Apple’s iPod had enjoyed quite a run as an innovative device for listening to mp3s in a small portable format and it has stayed at the top of the charts for quite some time now.
But some folks may remember back when the Sony Walkman was the pinnacle of portable music players. It was tony little toy that had a sleek design, good headphones and one could listen to the radio or play an audiocassette tape. Then came compact discs (another Sony goody) and they packaged that in a small, portable Discman format. Once again, nice and sleek, no radio this time but compact discs were new and everyone wanted them.
This time around, Sony didn’t capture the mp3 player market like it had in the past with handheld music players. Apple came on the market with their iPod and it blasted into the stratosphere. The iPod dominates the market in most place including Europe and North America but in Japan, Sony’s sent out the latest in their Walkman line they originated 26 years ago.
The little round device, described as looking like a perfume bottle is picking up steam and Sony says it will eventually hose the competition. The product comes either with flash memory chips or 2 models hard drives built in. The flash chip models include a 256 or 512 megabyte model as well as a 1 gigabyte model.
According to a Reuters story, the top seller in the Japanese market is one of the flash memory models but the flash isn’t in the storage capacity, it’s the battery capacity. It has a 50-hour battery capacity. Apple has had their share of battery problems.
The main bump to overcome will be the price point. Right now, the Sony products are prices higher than the Apple products and since the Apple iPod Shuffle starts at about $100, this could be a high priced war but Sony says the demand has been double what they were expecting.
But some folks may remember back when the Sony Walkman was the pinnacle of portable music players. It was tony little toy that had a sleek design, good headphones and one could listen to the radio or play an audiocassette tape. Then came compact discs (another Sony goody) and they packaged that in a small, portable Discman format. Once again, nice and sleek, no radio this time but compact discs were new and everyone wanted them.
This time around, Sony didn’t capture the mp3 player market like it had in the past with handheld music players. Apple came on the market with their iPod and it blasted into the stratosphere. The iPod dominates the market in most place including Europe and North America but in Japan, Sony’s sent out the latest in their Walkman line they originated 26 years ago.
The little round device, described as looking like a perfume bottle is picking up steam and Sony says it will eventually hose the competition. The product comes either with flash memory chips or 2 models hard drives built in. The flash chip models include a 256 or 512 megabyte model as well as a 1 gigabyte model.
According to a Reuters story, the top seller in the Japanese market is one of the flash memory models but the flash isn’t in the storage capacity, it’s the battery capacity. It has a 50-hour battery capacity. Apple has had their share of battery problems.
The main bump to overcome will be the price point. Right now, the Sony products are prices higher than the Apple products and since the Apple iPod Shuffle starts at about $100, this could be a high priced war but Sony says the demand has been double what they were expecting.
John Stith is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
