Memory Card based music player-new for 2009

SanDisk unveils memory card-based music player

LAS VEGAS: SanDisk Corp unveiled a portable digital music system based on memory cards preloaded with songs, signalling a shift in its strategy to compete against the iPod. (8 Jan, 2009) SanDisk announced the Sansa slotRadio player and companion line of slotRadio music cards at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday, along with other products including tiny, high-capacity memory cards for mobile phones. The music system is designed for the casual music consumer and consists of a modest-looking player -- square and about as think as deck of card -- that comes bundled with a fingernail-sized memory card. The card holds 1,000 mostly classic tunes picked from Billboard magazine charts and arranged into playlists according to genre. The player and card will sell for about $100; additional cards, which may be introduced around specific genres, themes or artists, will sell for about $40. SanDisk, the No. 1 supplier of flash memory-based data storage cards, for years has been a distant No. 2 to Apple Inc in the portable music player market. A company spokesman called SanDisk a "strong No. 2," adding that its market share is bigger than Nos. 3, 4 and 5 combined. But the spokesman confirmed a shift in focus at SanDisk away from devices mimicking Apple's iPod and toward memory-based units. SanDisk has yet to live up to Chief Executive Eli Harari's hopes of transforming itself into a "consumer electronics powerhouse," a suggestion he made two years ago at CES. Like Sony Corp, Hewlett-Packard Co and others, SanDisk has failed to make a significant dent in the iPod's total market share. In the meantime, it has had to deal with overproduction and excess supply in the flash memory industry. Falling demand for consumer gadgets that use portable flash memory, in the wake of the economic downturn, is further hurting the industry. (for more details: http://infotech.indiatimes.com/Personal_Tech/GadgeTech/SanDisk_unveils_memory_card-based_music_player/articleshow/3950333.cms