Since Sandisk released its Sansa brand MP3 player, the company has been kicking up quite a fuss. The player is sized much like the iPod Nano, but has always been considerably cheaper, showing just how much money you pay for the label and the connectivity to iTunes, arguably the best music store in the business. Usually, you could buy the Sansa for roughly the same money, if not a few quid less, and get double the storage of the Nano.
Things haven't changed much, as Sandisk has announced a new 8GB version of its popular player, for a street price equal to the Nano's 4GB model. It will debut at $249, which is starting to really turn some heads. Along with the new model, Sandisk has slashed the prices of its 2, 4, and 6 GB models to between $140 and $220. The company hopes the price drops will help garner market share to between 30% and 35%, from its current position at 10%.
Sandisk can produce the units so cheaply thanks to a deal that it has with Toshiba, its supplier of choice for the flash chips. The two companies have worked together closely for years in a relationship that has led to the recent announcement of a $5 billion USD jointly-owned production facility in Japan. In the meantime, Apple has had to source chips from all across the industry, leaving it subject to flash memory volatility as demand increases for the chips.
Do you have a thought on 8GB of thin goodness? Or is the Nano truly so unbeatable that double the storage can't tempt you away? Let us know your thoughts in our forums.
Things haven't changed much, as Sandisk has announced a new 8GB version of its popular player, for a street price equal to the Nano's 4GB model. It will debut at $249, which is starting to really turn some heads. Along with the new model, Sandisk has slashed the prices of its 2, 4, and 6 GB models to between $140 and $220. The company hopes the price drops will help garner market share to between 30% and 35%, from its current position at 10%.
Sandisk can produce the units so cheaply thanks to a deal that it has with Toshiba, its supplier of choice for the flash chips. The two companies have worked together closely for years in a relationship that has led to the recent announcement of a $5 billion USD jointly-owned production facility in Japan. In the meantime, Apple has had to source chips from all across the industry, leaving it subject to flash memory volatility as demand increases for the chips.
Do you have a thought on 8GB of thin goodness? Or is the Nano truly so unbeatable that double the storage can't tempt you away? Let us know your thoughts in our forums.
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