The first company that made a portable MP3 music player, Rio, is leaving the market.

In a statement the company said: “D&M Holdings has decided to exit the mass-market portable digital audio player business by September 30, 2005.”

Since the Rio was introduced in 1998, the market for digital music has ballooned to a $6.9 billion business and Apple’s iPod snatched 75 percent of the U.S. market.

Rio’s inability to compete against Apple and other manufacturers caused the company heavy losses ($8.75 million last quarter), forcing it to exit the market and focus on other products.