Bronfman Likes Telcos in iPod Race

The greatest threat to Apple's (AAPL Quote) dominance in the portable music player business won't come from other consumer electronics manufacturers, Edgar Bronfman Jr. said Monday.

Instead, it will come from operators of wireless telephone networks.

Bronfman, chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group, suggested it wouldn't be long before operators such as Vodafone (VOD Quote) become major distributors of music via third-generation networks and cell phones with memory comparable to that of current portable music players.

Those network operators, said Bronfman, have advantages such as a secure, piracy-resistant network and distribution base of phone-carrying customers much larger than the 5.7 million iPod portable music players that Apple has sold. ...