The continuing success of iPod sales has been hailed as significantly responsible for shares in Apple computer rising by six per cent.

Demand for the music players, in addition to related accessories such as iPod skins, headphones and even socks, has led to UBS and Merrill Lynch both raising their 12-month price targets, according to the Financial Times.

And one reason for this rising value, as phrased by Ben Reitzes, an analyst at UBS, is simply that the iPod appears to have “legs into the holidays and beyond”.

Despite market competition from Sony, the iPod currently possesses an 82 per cent domination of the market for hard-disk music players, a figure which looks set to continue.