Linn Will Exit CD Player Market in 2010

Audio manufacturer Linn Products Limited will cease production of CD players on Jan. 1, 2010.

Linn says it's exiting the CD player market because of the emergence of the networked home and growing consumer demand for streaming media.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) says sales of downloadable music have increased nearly 30 percent from 2007 to 2008. CD sales have declined approximately 25 percent during that same period.

Linn's record label also has seen a substantial increase in downloadable sales. Linn says it will continue to produce and sell CDs and SACDs.

Linn will focus more on its DS line of media streaming products, which have been developed as a stand-alone component on a home network.

Gilad Tiefenbrun, managing director of Linn Products Limited, says its clients have already begun the transition to streaming media, and the move away from CD should benefit Linn in the long run.

"Our customers have fast recognized the limitations of CD players and in the age of home networking, people now want better control of their music and the ability to enjoy it in any room of their home," Tiefenbrun says.

"Having spent the past two years significantly developing Linn DS and listening to feedback from our customers, we have every confidence in our decision to discontinue the manufacturing of CD players. A specialist proposition must offer customers the highest available performance and optimum value and the breakthrough level of performance achieved by Linn."