Cowon A3 Soon Available in Korea
Affirmed just one week in advance, the release date of the A3 for the Korean market is now scheduled for November 14. Due to the extensive list of functions that the 30GB and 60GB PMP provides it is no wonder Cowon is referring to the A3 as an extreme PMP.
Improving on the A2, the resolution of the 4-inch 16 million color LCD has increased by two thirds to 800 x 480. Additional codecs supported are primarily Matroska, h.264, VOB, Apple Lossless, AAC, APE, GIF and TIF, while videos up to 1280 x 720 pixles can now be played. The weight of the 30GB version is lighter than the A2 by 0.63oz and the user EQ has increased to 10-bands.
It’s been a long wait since Cowon first announced the A3 so hopefully it won't too much longer for the rest of the world. For now the Korean prices are 349,000 Won ($385) for the 30GB and 419,000 ($462) for the 60GB.
Comments
Todd on November 7, 2007 10:17 AM
This product is both late and overpriced compared to other products that exist in the same product space. It's release date is within days of the new Zune 2 but lacks distribution outlet partnerships capable of matching that of the iPod or Zune. Had this product made it to market on time it may have more ability to penetrate the market by differentiating itself in consumer electronic outlets, but the smaller 60GB hard drive and heavily loaded right-wing features (which only geeks are willing to pay for) will not translate into profits for Cowon, in fact I predict dismal sales will not be sufficient to recover the investment in R&D and the company will probably fold unless it can reduce costs and offer this product at lower than market value. Given that the A3 does not have a comparable media outlet as in Zune Marketplace or iTunes, Cowon has no leverage or incentive to release the product at or below cost. Market research reveal that customers are only willing to pay between 15-20% more for product features, and only when those products are clearly articulated to the customer as meaningful as is evident in the successful Mac campaigns. This is a classic story of a promising product failing in the market because of poor execution and leadership’s myopic view of the marketplace.
ashxcore on November 7, 2007 8:22 PM
Pricey, pricey, pricey...but appealing enough to make me think of selling my 60GB ZVW somewhere down the line and getting this bad boy instead.
Why just 60GB??
Torgrim on November 24, 2007 8:22 PM
You didn't mention that this device plays WavPack, which is _the_ reason I'm getting it.