London, Dec 8: The long forgotten portable compact disc players are making a comeback in British retail stores, thanks to consumers who are asking for cheap, simple gadgets as Christmas presents.

Popular in the 1980s, Discmans’ cost today has plummeted from more than 100 pounds to less than 15 pounds, according to market research firm GfK.

Many experts had written off the gadget claiming that digital MP3 players would kill it off.

But now, the Discmans simplicity and low price has won over shoppers, so much so, that John Lewis, the department store, has started refurbishing the gadget in its stock, four years after it originally phased them out.

UK’s largest electrical goods chain, Currys, has claimed a 50 percent increase in sales from last year, and according to GfK estimates 45,000 portable CD players were sold in October alone.

Experts claimed that the players’ sale is seeing a surge because of their cheapness and the fact that many consumers struggle with digital music players, finding it difficult to both upload and download songs on to their computers.

While MP3 players have proved enormously popular, helped by the market-leading iPod, there are still eight million people who do not have access to the Internet in the UK.

And despite the players being bulky in comparison to MP3 players, they are very easy to use.

"We have seen quite a sharp rise in the number of portable CD players being purchased compared to this time last year as a result of increasing high demand for low priced consumer electricals,” The Telegraph quoted Yvonne Ho, category manager of home audio at Currys, as saying.

He added: "There is definitely still a market for portable CD players particularly at this time of year as they make great stocking fillers for people of all ages and are primarily bought for their ease of use and by the people yet to digitise their music collections." (ANI)