Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/08/21/sandisk_to_launch_8gb_mp3/
Updated Sandisk will today introduce an 8GB Flash-based digital music player, launching the device ahead of the anticipated roll-out of an 8GB iPod Nano from Apple. Sandisk will also slash its prices, it has been claimed.
The 8GB Sansa e280 will retail in the US for around $250 - the same price as the 4GB Nano. Sandisk currently offers a 6GB player, the e270, for $280, suggesting that machine will come down in price when the e280 ships.
Sandisk's 4GB player, the e260, is already $20 cheaper than the same-sized Nano. Yet it hasn't dented Apple's US market share. For the first six months of 2006, Apple took 76.6 per cent of the US retail MP3 player market, compared to number two placed Sandisk's 8.9 per cent.
Rumours that Apple is preparing to launch - possibly in the current quarter - higher capacity Nanos have been flying since February.
The 2GB e250 now retails for $140, the e260 for $180 and the e270 for $220.
Like the existing e250, the e280 will incorporate a memory card slot to boost its storage capacity further, and we're hearing whispers that the company is planning to launch a device designed to make it easier to get non-music content onto its players via memory card. Since Sandisk's real business is selling memory cards, this makes sense, and it could do a lot worse than offer a product like Neuros Audio's MPEG 4 Recorder (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/08/10/neuros_mpeg_recorder_plus/)... ®
Sandisk e250 (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/13/review_sandisk_sansa_e250/)
Sandisk c150 (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/03/review_sandisk_sansa_c150/)
German court rules SanDisk MP3 player seizure lawful (15 December 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/12/15/german_court_rules_on_sansa_snatch/
SanDisk readies Rhapsody-branded music player (18 September 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/09/18/sandisk_rhapsody_tie-in/
SanDisk to ship low-end colour-screen MP3 player in October (1 September 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/09/01/sandisk_launches_c200_mp3s/
Dell quietly switches off own-brand MP3 player line (24 August 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/08/24/dell_stops_making_mp3_players/
Neuros brings SD card support back to MPEG 4 Recorder (10 August 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/08/10/neuros_mpeg_recorder_plus/
SanDisk flashes $1.6bn for M-Systems (1 August 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/01/sandisk_buys_msys/
Samsung ramps up 1GB Flash chip output (19 July 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/19/samsung_ships_1mb_flash_chip/
SanDisk preps 4GB SDHC memory card (18 July 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/07/18/sandisk_launches_4gb_sdhc/
Neuros solves MPEG Recorder PSP playback problem (18 May 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/18/neuros_mpeg_recorder_psp_bug_fix/