are minidiscs popular in japan?

[glxwill]

are minidisc players popular in japan?

or has the mp3 player effected the sales of minidiscs?

[Shibuyaexpat]

while you can still see a lot of people using md players, for the most part (and this is because I work in the industry) flash memory and hard drive-based players are growing in numbers. Why?

[glxwill]

wow, I didn't expect such a quick response, thanks for the info!

I'm mainly asking out of curiosity because I own a portable minidisc player/recorder and I wanted to buy a regular portable minidisc player rather than bringing the player/recorder around. I didn't know if the industry would still be releasing newer models or not, due to the popularity of mp3 players where I am(the U.S.) So I just wanted to know if this was happening in japan as well.

[DoctorP]

the MD players are still very popular...mainly because they are cheaper than the mp3 players. You can still buy car stereos with built in MD and CD/MP3 players too. But you can definitely tell that they are in the decline since you find fewer models available and you can even buy the disks in the 100 yen stores now.

[PopCulturePooka]

Aye when I first arrived in 03 I was shocked about how popular they were. Things were EVERYWHERE!

Now they on decline, but still popular with high schoolers and college kids.

[budd]

ol girl bought a new daihatsu with it as standard equipment

[Mike Cash]

I thought Japan was practically the only country in the world where the minidisc caught on, so the question struck me as being sort of odd.

Portable mp3 players are gaining in popularity, but you'll still find that huge chunks of the population haven't the slightest idea what the heck "mp3" is.

[FireyRei]

MD players are cheaper than MP3 players?! MP3 players are going for an average of 20k whereas the MD players are an average of 25k.

Cheapo MP3 player = 8k. I-Pod (top) = 50k
Cheapo MD walkman = 14k. Hi-MD (top) walkman = 52k.

Prices from Yodobashi Camera.

[PopCulturePooka]

Much more versatile too though, especially amongst people that don't use a PC much (which funnily is quite a few young Japanese I met).

[Tamer Brad]

mp3 player cheaper than MD player!?

How ridiculous ...

I hate my MD player. It broke after a month and the sound quality is not as good, and I prefer digital to analog ...

[Mike Cash]

MiniDisc isn't digital?

[PaulTB]

MiniDisc isn't digital?
Stop trying to confuse things with facts.

[Mike Cash]

I thought about buying a MiniDisc player, but I never could find a store that stocked replacement needles for the tone arm. What do they expect me to do when the original one wears out?

[PaulTB]

I thought about buying a MiniDisc player, but I never could find a store that stocked replacement needles for the tone arm. What do they expect me to do when the original one wears out?
Don't be silly - you pick your own 'needles' from your hedge. Blackthorn works best but hawthorn will do at a pinch - don't get them too green though.