More on Sansa. Isn't the product line just 1 year old? The old 2nd place incumbent was Creative, and I think they've got the most to lose. All the contenders have tried to compete with iPod on a variety of levels. Price is the main point, and at the under $100 level, many of the competitors add features that may sway buyers, such as adding a screen, higher capacity, FM tuner, FM transmitter, voice recorder, etc. They've also been working with the non-iTunes camps to tie into the competing music services.
As far as design, Sansa was probably not designed inhouse, but rather contracted (though I don't know for sure). Cost and time to market probably had greater input than usability, but again competing with iPod isn't the first goal. It's with iPod alternative to choose, and on that level, it's competitive. The true competitive advantage of Sandisk and Samsung is their supply of flash which is reportedly the largest cost factor in MP3 players. I expect this cost advantage to put these two at number 2 and 3. Lastly Sony needs to be in this arena, so should be coming out with something soon. Aside from one of these players buying up Creative or their MP3 division, they're going to have a tough time. Good thing MP3 players is not their only line.
One more note on design, Sandisk did come out with the SD plus cards (built-in usb), which is not too shabby. |
