Tuesday, May 2,2006 @ 2:50am
iPod rival Creative faces tough future
Apple's rival Creative is expected to post a quarterly loss of nearly $90 million for its March quarter due to cut-throat competition and falling flash prices. After warning investors earlier this month, the company faces a tough road ahead as analysts see a bleak future for a market dominated by Apple and its iPod: "We expect the business environment for Creative to remain tough at least for the next two quarters. Demand is only expected to pick up for the year-end Christmas sales," said CIMB-GK Securities analyst Jonathan Ng told Reuters. "We remain negative on its prospects given the harsh competition in the market and a lack of new winning products in the foreseeable future," he added. The Singapore-based company offers Nomad and Zen MP3 players that compete with Apple's iPod as well as Samsung's Yepp and Reigncom's iRiver.