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Korean MP3 player makers are miffed by the release of a new product by world market leader Apple that they say is cutting corners by using Samsung Electronics flash memory chips.
Apple Computer unveiled its ultra-lightweight i-Pod nano flash memory player on Thursday (local time). The U.S. company holds 50 percent of the global market share with its iPod series.
The i-Pod nano can store up to 1,000 songs or 4 GB, the biggest storage capacity yet for a flash memory player. The new MP3 players cost US$249 for the 4 GB version and $199 for 2 GB, about half the price of existing products. Apple president Steven Jobs said the i-Pod nano was the most groundbreaking MP3 player since the iPod was launched.
The domestic MP3 player industry is sulking, saying the iPod nano owes its exceptionally low price to Samsung Electronics. ¡°Memory chips affect more than 50 percent of MP3 players' prices. Apple presumably bought the flash memory chips at a 50 percent discount from Samsung.¡± But Samsung Electronics executive Joo Woo-sik defends the company. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you the discount rate, but it stands to reason that we expand the range of discount rates for a big buyer like Apple,¡± he said. "Samsung didn¡¯t mean to do any harm to domestic MP3 manufacturers.¡±
But they are unhappy. Reincom spokesman Kim Dong-hwan said, ¡°We can hardly declare a price war with Apple. We¡¯ll counter Apple¡¯s challenge by releasing new concept products.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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