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Defying predictions that the iPod bubble would burst, Apple took 75.6 per cent of the world's largest market in the second quarter of 2006. Its nearest challenger, SanDisk, had 9.7 per cent while Creative - currently engaged in a legal tussle with Apple over rival patent claims, was a third with 4.3 per cent. Samsung, with 2.5 per cent, was fourth followed by Sony, in a far cry from the days when Walkman was a byword for portable audio, claiming just 1.9 per cent.

'Apple

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has done a great job of focusing consumers' attention on digital music in their products through millions of dollars in advertising,' said Ross Rubin, analyst at the NPD Group, which compiled the figures.

Rubin said that these efforts should enable Apple to hold its own against the new generation of smartphones with music playback, despite predictions that the days of music players are numbered.

Rubin said that US mobile phone service providers have hindered the popularity of using mobile phones as music players because they have been charging more for purchasing songs online than their rivals such as Apple and Napster charge for standalone player-compatible downloads.

He also noted that mobile carriers have been reluctant to enable music file exchange with PCs via memory cards or Bluetooth, instead preferring the more lucrative practice of forcing users to rely on their networks for purchases.