Apple today revealed that it has sold 100 million iPods, turning the device into the fastest-selling music player ever, the company boasts. The benchmark figure was reached only five and a half years after the November 2001 debut of the 5GB original and comes after eleven different generations of iPods, including five editions of the flagship model. Apple CEO Steve Jobs was enthusiastic in reporting the news.

"At this historic milestone, we want to thank music lovers everywhere for making iPod such an incredible success," he said. "iPod has helped millions of people around the world rekindle their passion for music, and we’re thrilled to be a part of that."

The company also took the opportunity to boast 4,000-plus accessories made just for the iPod, including cases and speakers, and that over 70 percent of cars for the 2007 model year now had the option of connecting an iPod for audio.

Apple's achievement easily topples that of the Sony Walkman, which was first released in 1979 but took a full thirteen years to reach the 100 million unit sales figure in 1992. Sony currently only holds a fraction of the digital music player market in the US, which is led primarily by Apple.