Despite recent reports showing that standalone MP3 players, such as the iPod Touch, were better in terms of performance that mobile phones that also player MP3s, such as the new iPhone 3G, it seems that the UK consumer still wants to see MP3 players and mobile phones as one unit. In fact, as many as 75% of MP3 players sold in the UK are also mobile phones.

No wonder Apple was so keen to make a mobile phone that played music; they’ve just quadrupled their sales potential for the iPod with the iPhone.

The research comes from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), showing that in the past 12 months 32 million MP3 players were sold in the UK, with three quarters of those being mobiles.

These figures dwarf the sales of CD playing technology, where only 8 million players were sold in the last 12 months.

It’s hardly surprising that so many MP3 players sold are also mobile phones, as approximately 90% of mobiles feature MP3 player functionality. This doesn’t of course mean that consumers are buying mobile phones over MP3 players, it just means that many mobile phones being purchased also happen to be MP3 players.