The latest sales figures for the quarter to June showed 9m sold – the lowest quarterly number since 2006. In short, the iPod, launched in October 2001, looks to be in terminal decline. While Apple is unworried – sales of its iPhone and iPad are booming – the drooping figures for the digital music player market are a concern for another sector: the music companies.

The music industry had looked to the iPod to drive people to buy music in download form, whethe r from Apple's iTunes music store, eMusic, Napster or from newer competitors such as Amazon. The problem for them is that digital music sales are only growing as fast as those of Apple's devices – and as the stand-alone digital music player starts to die off, people may lose interest in buying songs from digital stores.

"At a time where we're asking if digital is a replacement for the CD, as the CD was for vinyl, we should be starting to see a hockey-stick growth in download sales," said Mark Mulligan, an analyst at Forrester Research who specialises in music and digital media. "Instead, we're seeing a curve resembling that of a niche technology."

At the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) , which represents the worldwide music industry, a spokesman agrees that the growth of digital sales has slowed. Figures for 2009 released earlier this year show that while CD sales fell by 12.7%, losing $1.6bn (£1bn)in value, digital downloads only grew by 9.2%, gaining less than $400m in value. "The digital download market is still growing," said Alex Jacob, a spokesman for the organisation. "But the percentage is less than a few years ago, though it's now coming from a higher base."

But the expectation of the early days of the digital format – that, in time, digital sales would replace CDs and make up something like the same value have been dashed. "Across the board, in terms of growth, digital isn't making up for the fall in CD sales, though it is in certain countries, including the UK," said Jacob.

Probably because all the Apple lemmings are buying iPhones instead.

Though are iPhone users any less likely to buy music, than iPod users?

It's also a saturated market.

Everyone who wanted an iPod will now have one, and they won't be upgrading every other week or so.

I'm not about to swap my 80GB Classic for a touch, because I need more storage space than the biggest touch can give me - and that in spite of the wireless goodness a touch would have...