SanDisk Corporation is entering the portable video game accessory market and introduced a line of flash memory cards targeted at the $25 billion dollar video game market. SanDisk’s entry into the video game market comes as companies that manufacture portable video game consoles develop devices that include slots for standard flash memory cards. The company has adopted unique game packaging and redesigned the “look and feel” of the cards to spur sales among younger consumers.
SanDisk is initially is offering the new game cards in Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD, one of the most popular card formats. Sony’s first handheld game device, the PlayStation Portable, has just been introduced in Japan and uses Memory Stick PRO Duo cards. International Data Corp., a leading market research firm, estimates that 8.8 million PSPs will be sold in 2005. Other popular portable game machines, such as the Tapwave Zodiac and the Gizmondo, have slots for SD cards.
The Memory Stick PRO Duo cards in game packaging will be sold in capacities ranging from 128MB to 1 gigabyte (GB) with suggested retail prices from $39.99 to $159.99. SD cards for the game market will be sold in several capacities from 128MB to 1GB with suggested retail pricing of $34.99 to $104.99. The cards will start shipping to stores this month.
Editor's Note: Nice neon. I wonder why there were delays in targetting different consumer demographics to use these storage devices as broader media vehicles. Glad to see SanDisk doing it. Hope it works.