SanDisk breaks through iPod to build a music empire

Publisher: Send_linux Date: 2008.09.24

[Saidi Net News] The Forbes article on September 23, Beijing time, pointed out that every time Apple releases a new iPod, it will be regarded by the technology industry as the leader in the digital music field, its competitors, Microsoft and Zune, will once again become targets of ridicule. The collision between the two giants attracted almost the attention of the entire industry, making SanDisk always have no chance to become the focus of attention in the industry.

However, SanDisk recently launched a new program named SlotMusic, which aims to replace the disc with a flash card. SanDisk announced on Monday that it has established partnerships with four major record companies, namely baiday music, Sony BMG, Global Music, and Warner Music. The Partnership covers the release of records through a 1 GB flash card, flash cards can be applied to any mobile phone or MP3 player with USB or microSD slots.

Although SanDisk's Sansa music player has not received public attention, it still occupies 10% of the digital music player market. Although it cannot compare to Apple, which has a 70% market share, Microsoft, its recent competitor, has only 3% of the market share.

When competitors are busy adding Wi-Fi and the "shake to shuffle" function to their respective players, SanDisk is dedicated to streamlining those features, to highlight its price advantages. Sansa Clip released by SanDisk for Apple iPod shuffle is equipped with 1 display screen and 2 GB memory, with a retail price of only $59.99. By contrast, the 2 GB iPod shuffle without a display is priced at $69.99. The SanDisk's Sansa retail price for Apple iPod Nano is $119, and the iPod Nano retail price is $149.99. It can be seen that Sansa of SanDisk targets consumers who have no money to buy iPod or Zune. This strategy has been successful.

Gartner analyst Jon Erensen pointed out: "The key is that the price of SanDisk player products is very competitive, and its price advantage is not available to other vendors ."

Susan Kevorkian, an analyst at IDC, also holds the same opinion. "We think that SanDisk has always been very good at developing player products because they already understand that it is not enough to buy cheap flash accessories," she said ."

Kevorkian also pointed out that SanDisk's cooperation with Best Buy and Internet music service Rhapsody has always been important. Although SanDisk has less marketing budget than Apple and Microsoft, it has built its own brand and retail channels through these cooperative transactions. In addition, although it has moved its flash business to the portable music player business, SanDisk still has a strong brand influence in the Flash industry.

SanDisk's SlotMusic format is likely to be successful, because many players are already compatible with the microSD flash card. Gartner's Erensen pointed out that SanDisk is very good at leveraging its technical advantages. If a consumer wants to purchase a physical storage device for a digital music player, they are likely to purchase a SanDisk product.