News Archive for 06/02/09

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SanDisk takes 2nd place

02/09, 3:40pm

SanDisk sells 1M players, takes 2nd

SanDisk--one of Apple's competitors in the digital music industry--has quietly slipped into second place in digital music player sales. "We want to be a strong No. 2 in the MP3 space," Eric Bone said, director of consumer product marketing for SanDisk. The company's players are aimed at people seeking an alternative to Apple's iPod, and who want to load their devices up with songs sold through services other than iTunes, according to the San Jose Mercury News. SanDisk has a strong presence with retailers across the U.S., reporting a record $2.3 billion in revenue for 2005 and selling a million digital music players during the holiday quarter. We already have the channels. We have the brand," said Eli Harari, chief executive of SanDisk. "We are not Apple. We are not an iPod. But we have a highly respected brand."

Antitrust case vs AAPL

02/09, 1:35pm

Judge approves antitrust case vs Apple

A new ruling has paved the way for an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The lawsuit, filed against Apple by an unhappy iTunes customer, claims that Apple engaged in anticompetitive behavior by forcing him to buy an iPod. Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court of Northern California has found the plaintiff, Thomas Slattery, as having "met all requirements for asserting [Apple's iTunes and iPod] tying claim, noting that the complaint alleges Apple has an 80 percent share of the market for legal digital music files and more than 90 percent of the market for portable hard-drive digital music players." Judge Ware has given Slattery the go-ahead to proceed with his monopolization claim under the federal Sherman Antitrust Act, according to eHomeUpgrade. Slattery claimed that Apple's system freezes out competitors, and while one antitrust expert called it a long shot, another antitrust law professor said that the key to such a lawsuit would be convincing a court that a single product brand like iTunes is a market in itself separate from the rest of the online music market.