Sony to Launch Online Music Service, New Mini Disc
Thu January 8, 2004 03:59 AM ET
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Sony did not disclose a sales target but said it expected to produce about 70,000 of the portable MD players per month. It also plans to produce 10,000 of what it calls desktop MD audio systems per month, which will retail for around 60,000 yen.
Apple Computer said earlier this week that it would introduce a smaller, cheaper version of its popular iPod music player next month, underscoring heightening competition in the market for portable audio machines.
An executive at Sony said that the appeal of the MD format was that it offered consumers the ability to transfer data between devices through a removable disc.
"Whether it be one song, eight songs or ten. You can take the disc out of the machine and lend it to someone. It is a way to communicate and very easy to understand," said Tadao Yoshida, a vice president and executive officer at Sony.
In addition to music, Sony's new MD players will be able to store and transfer text and images.
Sony also introduced a system called "LocationFree" that allowed consumers to carry a magazine-sized flat LCD screen anywhere in the home while viewing video content broadcast from a broadband home network.
($1=106.21 Yen)
(additional reporting by Nathan Layne in Tokyo)
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