The death of the CD industry is leaving millions of audiophile holdouts in the lurch

It's been more than 15 years since the heyday of CD sales. But the shiny little discs still have their devotees. As this chart by Statista shows, millions of people continue to purchase CDs ever year.

Given that the sound quality of CDs is superior to streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music, it's not surprising that there are audiophile holdouts. But these diehards might be in for some tough times following the announcement by electronics retailer Best Buy that it will stop selling compact discs in its stores.

Best Buy's move could provide the death blow to CDs, or it could signal the beginning of a vinyl-like comeback for people with a yen for "retro" items.

NOW WATCH: What it's like to pretend to live on Mars for 8 months