http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6107575.html?tag=nl.e589

SanDisk unveils 8GB music playerBy Candace Lombardi, CNET News.com

Published on ZDNet News: August 21, 2006, 4:24 AM PT

Forward in EMAIL Format for PRINT ZDNet Tags: MP3 players Pricing Apple Computer Inc

Flash memory maker SanDisk has released a new MP3 player in its Sansa line and has reduced prices for its players across the board to compete with Apple Computer`s flash-based iPod Nano.

SanDisk on Monday released the Sansa e280, an 8GB digital music device that can be expanded to store 10GB of data with a SanDisk 2GB MicroSD card. The device is being offered for $249.

That marks a significant difference in price-to-storage ratio when compared with Apple`s 4GB iPod Nano. That iPod model retails for $249, according to Apple`s online store. (There is currently no 8GB or 10GB iPod. Apple`s player with the next-highest capacity, the 30GB iPod, runs on a hard drive rather than flash and sells for $299.)

The Sansa players enable people to increase storage capacity and change which songs are kept on the device by inserting different MicroSD cards. SanDisk is a leading manufacturer of flash memory. Its expansion cards currently hold about 500 songs, but greater-capacity cards are planned, according to SanDisk.

While the Sansa line supports Microsoft PlaysForSure and Rhapsody To Go, the device has a nonproprietary digital rights management system and allows any songs in the MP3 and WMA formats to be uploaded to the device.

Other features on SanDisk`s MP3 players include a digital FM tuner from which people can record and a built-in microphone that enables the device to act as a voice recorder.

The Sansa`s potential success, however, lies not in a feature matchup with the iPod but in SanDisk`s strength as a company, according to Ted Schadler, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research.

``(SanDisk) gets memory cheaper than anybody, and they have tremendous distribution reach because they have their SD cards everywhere. Because they have a tremendous retail presence already with their memory cards, they can bring these products to those same retailers and get shelf space. And that`s a huge advantage,`` Schadler said. ``Three things make a difference: price, quality of the product--which is steadily getting better--and their reach. SanDisk has all those coming together now.``

Because of the strong ecosystem surrounding the iPod, said Schadler, there is no release that is going to make a significant dent in Apple`s monstrous share of the MP3 market overnight. As the market matures, things will change, but it will be an uphill battle. Music stores will consolidate their efforts around a small group of manufacturers, and a ``two-horse race`` will eventually develop. SanDisk is in a good position to possibly be that second horse, but Schadler said the release is a sign of SanDisk`s ``relentlessness`` as a company, not a break in the MP3 player market.

SanDisk, which holds the second-largest market share in digital music players behind Apple, also announced significant price changes on its 2GB, 4GB and 6GB digital music players that undercut their iPod capacity-equivalents.

The 2GB Sansa e250 has been reduced to $139 from $179.99, compared with the 2GB iPod Nano`s $199 price. The 4GB Sansa e260 for $179 (originally $229.99) and the 6GB Sansa e270 for $219 (originally $279.99) also offer more flash memory for the money than the $249 4GB iPod Nano.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6107575.html?tag=nl.e589