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Dell, the world’s largest personal-computer maker, has decided to ditch the last of its line of own-brand MP3 players, the short-lived DJ Ditty flash-based digital-music player. Dell won’t offer a follow-up product, preferring to concentrate on core areas like PCs and printers, but it will still be a third-party reseller for other MP3 players like Creative Zen.
When DJ Ditty was first announced last September, Dell had hoped that the player’s monochrome display and support of Microsoft’s Windows Media Audio format would give it a leg up on the iPod Shuffle.

It’s thought the MP3 player line was dropped for failing to pull significant market share from behemoth Apple. The company’s line of MP3 players was launched in 2003, but never really took a significant part of the market.
But Dell spokesman Venancio Figueroa declined to characterize the decision as Dell bowing out in the face of competition from market leader Apple. Dell is trying to focus on its core areas of PCs, printers and flat-panel televisions, he said.
Dell will still sell music players, however, including those made by Sandisk, Samsung Electronics, Creative Technology, and IRiver America.