Aidan Malley and Sam OliverThe company's chief appeared to concede defeat on Wednesday, stating at his company's Milpitas, California headquarters that Apple had effectively secured the market for itself.
“You can’t out-iPod the iPod,†Harari said.
The seeming admission came after years of fiercer competition between SanDisk and Apple that culminated in a negative "iDon't" ad campaign: the former actively insulted iPod owners by accusing them of slavishly following trends rather than thinking for themselves.
SanDisk offers several models in its Sansa line, with traits that often correspond with models in Apple’s iPod lineup. But while SanDisk has had some firsts relative to the iPod, such as the first 8GB flash player on the market, the Sansa players have lacked companion music store and software to present a formidable challenge to the iPod, not to mention the complete absence of a touchscreen device a year and a half after the debut of the iPod touch.
To date, SanDisk has had such little relative success in unseating Apple that its competition has stemmed from Microsoft, whose Zune line has regularly placed third in the market and has been more likely to steal share from Apple's competitors than Apple itself.
Meanwhile, iPod sales and performance continue to be strong. The company recently sold over 11 million iPods during the winter, a new unit record for a non-holiday quarter. According to NPD data, Apple’s digital media player market share continues to stay above 70 percent within the US.
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89 Comments
Now what? They give up?
They may not get first place but SanDisk should continue selling their players although I think the new ZuneHD will be a formidable opponent to the iPod.
the great part of this article is how the sandisk CEO basically admits that their "iDont" campaign was just that - an ad campaign. Their products truly had very little else to offer besides the sole fact of being a "non-ipod." I mean, "slavishly" following the masses is what the majority of PC buyers do when they buy windows. But if you're gonna claim that your products are for those that think different (irony, much?) then at least have something compelling to offer.
Now what? They give up?
They may not get first place but SanDisk should continue selling their players although I think the new ZuneHD will be a formidable opponent to the iPod.
Agreed. The Zune HD is an unstoppable force that may just edge out the Nano.
Seriously though the game is over for smaller players. Only Microsoft has the ducats to plan to setup an app store. Apple's ability to leverage the App store across the iPhone and iPod Touch is a kill shot to any smaller company that simply cannot afford an equivalent entry.
The Sansa Clip is a wonderful little product, coming from someone who is now on his fifth iPod. Quite simply, the Sana Clip excels with audio books and the iPod doesn't. It has everything to do with the WMA format, which allows me to download free audio books right onto the device via the OverDrive application. The iPod wants me to play by their MP3 rules, which don't lend themselves as nicely to audio books. Plus, my Sansa Clip is tiny and features an FM tuner plus an audio recorder...neither of which are on my current iPod. There's a place for both devices, so Mr. SanDisk shouldn't get all doom-and-gloom here.
They may not get first place but SanDisk should continue selling their players although I think the new ZuneHD will be a formidable opponent to the iPod.
I was just coming here to say I hope SanDisk stays in the game. The shuffle is a nice device, but for me, I much prefer my SanDisk clip. I paid about $25 for a 2gb version last year - that makes it about a third of the cost of the shuffle. I definitely prefer using iTunes to manage my collection (which is why I also have a 80gb Classic and an iPhone), but this is nearly as light and adds such features as a screen and FM Radio support (which is nice at the gym where I can use it to tune in to television if I want). I can't remember if it has Rhapsody support, but I have a larger format SanDisk that I bought specifically for Rhapsody-to-go (note to Steve Jobs: there are some people who do want subscription music and would kill for this on the iPod).
the great part of this article is how the sandisk CEO basically admits that their "iDont" campaign was just that - an ad campaign. Their products truly had very little else to offer besides the sole fact of being a "non-ipod." I mean, "slavishly" following the masses is what the majority of PC buyers do when they buy windows. But if you're gonna claim that your products are for those that think different (irony, much?) then at least have something compelling to offer.
I disagree to a point. If I could only have one MP3 player, it would certainly be an iPod. But since I can afford more than one, I do have two SanDisk products: a Sansa for subscription music, and a Clip for a lightweight device. SanDisk does have something to offer - some additional features and at less cost. I still much prefer my iDevices, but the SanDisk devices have their place...