"Are there any really significant ones that are challenging the iPod’s dominance in that market? Not really."
Dude, take off your US goggles and look at market shares elsewhere.
You might go to on street vendors who import a variety of cheap and mostly low quality iPod clones directly from Hong Kong.
I don't remember it being very different in Australia and a couple of European countries I've been to, but I might have been blinded by my fanboyism. :-)
It certainly isn't so in Brazil. Those other mp3 players normally can only be found in small, not so reputable stores here. Mostly they are from unknown Chinese brands.
Other than that, I only remember seeing a model from Sony, this year, in a large electronics store, as you put it. Everyone has an abundance of iPods, however. There is also an abundance of very cheap iPod clones, in those not-so-reputable stores.
Apple: 140 entries Samsung: 106 Philips: 97 Sony: 79 Creative: 70 iRiver: 52 Trekstor: 50 ...