Has Dell Quit the Fight Against the iPod?

From PC World: Dell has reportedly decided not to launch any new MP3 players in time for this holiday season. After promising last year an ambitious return in the digital music player market, Michael Dell has so far failed to deliver any new devices this year.

Dell stopped selling its DJ Ditty line of MP3 players back in 2006 and a year later promised it will return with "sexy" new products. But according to the Wall Street Journal, Dell, world's second largest computer manufacturer, will not release yet another iPod competitor this year.

The digital music player market is now dominated by Apple's iPod, with SanDisk and Microsoft lagging at a very distant second and respectively third place. A new offering from Dell isn't likely to make much of a difference, especially without a major marketing push. That is of course, unless Dell comes with something truly innovative.

Back in July, much speculation was about a revamped sequel of Dell's DJ Ditty. The new player was said to be based on software provided by Zing Systems, a startup company acquired by Dell. Zing also provides the platform for some SanDisk music players and for Sirius Stiletto. The player was expected to connect to online music services and cost under $100.

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