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Technology Stocks : WDC/Sandisk Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: slacker711 who wrote (30855)1/5/2006 1:27:12 PM
From: pompsander  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 60323
 
Slacker - Well stated, and I agree completely. I would see price cuts as a sign of strength for SNDK right now and further confirmation to the engineering world that the cost of Flash will continue to drop, making it more and more competitive with alternatives. So, engineer it in to those next generation products.

Great couple of days, and the stock is showing it!



To: slacker711 who wrote (30855)1/5/2006 3:20:21 PM
From: inaflash  Respond to of 60323
 
Besides my view of the current supply/demand situation, I would also add that a price cut at this juncture would really fit Sandisk's past history. They cut prices in Q2 of last year ahead of the 90nm supply hitting the market even though NAND seemed to be in short supply. Eric Stang of Lexar spent half of his conference call deriding the price cuts as irrational <G>. I look forward to hearing the same from him in about three months.
A large supply coming online would put a large downward step on prices before demand caught up. By cutting prices earlier, they prevent an overshoot that exaggerates the imbalance. The drop in prices also helps clear out the channel by stimulating demand, especially the lower capacity units that are getting discontinued. The added benefit is that it pressures the competition to lower their prices or lose market share, either hurting their profitability and competitiveness. I recall coming across an article where Lexar expected a 6% price drops and more than that hurt their earnings estimates. I'm sure they're not comparable, but 40-50% drops in annual $/GB is projected for the near to mid term. Just a sign that Lexar may be using overly optimistic numbers.



To: slacker711 who wrote (30855)1/5/2006 4:03:38 PM
From: slacker711  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 60323
 
It looks like they are going to try and compete with the iPod....not sure that is a great idea.

biz.yahoo.com

SanDisk Introduces Flagship MP3 Sansa Players Sporting 6-Gigabyte Flash Capacity and Sleek Design
Thursday January 5, 4:00 pm ET
Large Color Screen, FM Radio, microSD Expansion Slot Ideal for Subscription Music Downloads, Viewing Photos and Video

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 2006--SanDisk® Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK - News) introduced today its top-of-the-line SanDisk Sansa(TM) e200 MP3 player with a large color screen and 6-gigabytes(1) (GB) of storage capacity that makes it ideal for listening to music or viewing photos and personal videos. The company also introduced the Sansa c100, a value-conscious MP3 player with a color screen and compact size. Both families were unveiled at a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show where SanDisk is demonstrating products in Booth #30329, South Hall Level 3, Las Vegas Convention Center.
Source: SanDisk Corporation

· View Multimedia Gallery




"Music is an incredibly important part of the digital lifestyle, where the emphasis is on accessibility of music, styling and ruggedness on the go," said Eric Bone, director of audio/video product marketing at SanDisk. "These new players have a rich set of features, a high-strength industrial design and a friendly price tag that we believe will appeal to anyone who appreciates music on the go."

Sansa e200 -- SanDisk's Flagship MP3 Player

The Sansa e200 series features a slim new design and a 1.8-inch (4.572 cm) TFT color screen (QCIF+) along with high-quality audio, photo viewing and video playback capabilities. It offers an industry-leading, 6GB capacity that holds more than 1,400 MP3 songs(2). It is also available in 2 and 4GB models. Its large color screen is ideal for easily viewing playlists, photos and personal videos.

Its distinctive, high-strength and lightweight back cover is made with an advanced Titanium alloy from Liquidmetal® Technologies that is stronger than steel and highly resistant to scratches and wear. It includes a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery for long playtime and can be replaced by the customer to ensure the player provides many years of continuous service. Dimensions of the Sansa e200 are 1.7 in. wide x 3.5 in. long x 0.5 in. high (4.4 cm wide x 8.9 cm long x 1.3 cm high).

For instant access to millions of digital songs, the Sansa e200 series players will support Microsoft® PlaysForSure(TM) so consumers can download and pay for songs individually or download an unlimited amount of music for a flat monthly subscription fee from music stores such as Rhapsody To Go® and others.

The Sansa e200 includes other features to enhance the listening and viewing experience. These include:

Icon-based menu for easy navigation
Slideshow function to conveniently view photos and play music simultaneously
FM tuner with on-the-fly recording to save your favorite songs or programs
microSD(TM) expansion slot for additional memory capacity and support for SanDisk TrustedFlash(TM) and gruvi(TM) content cards that can be shared with mobile phones
Universal accessory connector for the easy addition of future accessories.
Model Suggested # of Playback # of songs Playback
Retail Price songs(2) time(3) (WMA) time
(MP3)
------------- ------------- --------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Sansa e250 32 hours, 64 hours,
(2GB)(1) $199.99 480 MP3 960 WMA
------------- ------------- --------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Sansa e260 64 hours, 128 hours,
(4GB)(1) $249.99 960 MP3 1,920 WMA
------------- ------------- --------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Sansa e270 128 hours, 256 hours,
(6GB)(1) $299.99 1,440 MP3 3,840 WMA
------------- ------------- --------- ---------- ---------- ----------

The Sansa e200 series will be available in March in the U.S. and Europe.

Sansa c100 -- Feature Rich, Value Priced

The Sansa c100 series is for the value-conscious consumer who wants a high-quality, large capacity music player with a color screen. It is available in 1- and 2GB capacities.

The 1.21-inch (3.07 cm) color screen can be used to view thumbnail-size digital images such as album art or create a slideshow with music.

The Sansa c100 line will support Microsoft PlaysForSure subscription and downloads compliance for easy accessibility to a wide range of music and music stores. It also includes an FM digital tuner with 20-channel presets, FM on-the-fly recording and voice-recording capabilities with its built-in microphone. The new player uses a single AAA battery to power the unit and features a universal accessory connector for the easy addition of future accessories.

Model Suggested Playback # of songs(2) Playback # of songs
Retail Price time(1) time
----------- ------------ --------- ------------- ---------- ----------
Sansa c140 16 hours, 32 hours,
(1GB)(1) $119.99 MP3 240 WMA 480
----------- ------------ --------- ------------- ---------- ----------
Sansa c150 32 hours, 64 hours,
(2GB)(1) $169.99 MP3 480 WMA 960
----------- ------------ --------- ------------- ---------- ----------

The Sansa c100 series will be available in March in the U.S. and Europe.

New Players Designed For Ease of Use

For convenience and ease of use, the new players feature an intuitive, icon-based menu to quickly select and navigate key functions.

The new players are designed to work seamlessly with a wide range of popular music formats such as MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA) in both unprotected and protected files (such as those WMA files purchased from music stores). It also supports the newest music subscription services found at Rhapsody to Go and others.

SanDisk is the original inventor of flash storage cards and is the world's largest supplier of flash data storage card products using its patented, high-density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA and has operations worldwide, with more than half its sales outside the U.S.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including expectations for new product introductions, applications, markets, and customers that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate. Risks that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others: market demand for our products may grow more slowly than our expectations or there may be a slower adoption rate for these products in new markets that we are targeting and the other risks detailed from time-to-time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We do not intend to update the information contained in this press release.

Images of SanDisk products are available at sandisk.com

SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Gruvi, microSD, Sansa and TrustedFlash are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation. SanDisk is an authorized licensee of the SD trademark. RealNetworks and Rhapsody are registered trademarks of RealNetworks, Inc. Microsoft, PlaysForSure and Windows Media are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. LiquidMetal is a registered trademark of LiquidMetal Technologies, Inc. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective holder(s).

(1) 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes.

(2) Approximate figures at four minutes per song

(3) Approximate playback at 128kbps MP3, 64kbps WMA

MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE: businesswire.com