Nielsen Media Research has released findings from its 3rd Quarter Home Technology Report which show that MP3 players are now found in a quarter of US homes, and that more U.S. households now own DVD players (81.2% of all households) than VCRs (79.2% of households).

The trends bode well for podcasting, if not for video tapes. The penetration of MP3 players has jumped by 150% in the last three years.

“This study shows the culmination of a long battle for share of consumers,” said Paul Lindstrom, senior vice president of custom research for Nielsen Media Research. “Nielsen clients have used information from our Home Tech Report for the past decade to trend the changes in penetration and report use of new devices as they infiltrate the marketplace, and we now see that the popularity of DVDs has finally surpassed that of VCRs.”

As of third quarter 2006, DVD penetration in the U.S. is up 6% from the previous year and continues to grow, while VCR penetration has started a decline. In 1999 when Nielsen first started tracking DVD ownership in its Home Tech Report, DVD penetration was only 6.7% and was dwarfed by VCR ownership at 88.6%.

Nielsen’s latest report also found that DVD households now rent DVDs about twice per month, compared to VCR homes renting VHS tapes only about once per month. The frequency with which households rent video tapes has leveled off during the past six months.

Highlights of the research include:

• Computers — 73.4% of U.S. homes currently have a computer in the household, and homes with children and teens are more likely to have a home computer.¬† There is a large difference in the percentage of lower income homes vs. higher income homes that own a home computer.¬† Homes with an income over $60K are 50% more likely to own a home computer than homes with an income below $60K.
• Internet — 95.4% of consumers with Internet access go online at least once a week, and 37.3% of Internet users go online more than once a day. 78.2% of online users have made purchases over the Internet. 46.8% of online users (ages 12+) have used the Internet to download and play music from the Internet.
• MP3 Players — 26.7% of U.S. homes own or rent an MP3 player. Households with the presence of children 12-17 years of age are nearly 2-1/2 times more likely to own or rent an MP3 player than compared to the Total U.S. The percentage of homes owning an MP3 player has risen by 149.5% since 3rd Quarter 2003.
• PDA — 16.4% of U.S. homes own a PDA, and since 3rd quarter 2003, PDA ownership has increased by 4.5%.¬† Not surprisingly, higher income homes are more than four times as likely as lower income homes to own a PDA.