Samsung to Buy SanDisk?
It's a (half) well known fact that SanDisk owns a lot of patents concerning flash memory and that this has been the grounds for a lot of lawsuits, arguments and whatnot over the years. Samsung alone has to pay $351 million USD a year to SanDisk in royalties, Samsung being the biggest NAND flash maker in the world. According to a korean news source and half confirmed by a Samsung spokesperson, Samsung is considering buying SanDisk. The plan is in very early stages at best and nothing has been even remotely decided yet, but considering SanDisk's poor results in the last months it might be someone to look out for.
The question is what this will mean for the Sansa players. If Samsung buys SanDisk, the Sansa line would most likely go with it and I don't see Samsung continuing the line if SanDisk gets fully incorporated into Samsung. Samsung doesn't make memory cards at the time being and so it's likely they will keep the SanDisk brand for this, however MP3 players is a different story. At such an early stage of course everything is beyond pure speculation, but if such a merging is happening it might very well mean the end of the Sansa line as it's unlikely that Samsung will compete with itself. It could of course also mean Samsung players with microSD slots, better sound quality and other Sansa features. Again, only hypothesis' but both a scary and an interesting thought at the same time. What do you think the result of such a merge will be?
[The register|MarketWatch] (thanks advcomp2019)
Comments
SansaRulez83 on September 5, 2008 11:45 AM
God this is really crazy! So...what happens to Sansa's market share in the mp3 player market? Is that 11 percent just suddenly gone? I think it would still be more profitable to keep the Sansa name. Hell, make Samsung players named Sansa. "Sansa" is associated with well-built, cost-effective products in the peoples' eyes. Why screw that up and make a void?
josh on September 5, 2008 12:14 PM
I really hope this does not happen. The Sansa player they have been putting out in the last few years have been great. I don't see the point is messing that up. I just hope this is just a rumor and that it.
Phil Urich on September 5, 2008 1:41 PM
On the plus side it would likely mean cheaper Samsung players and SSDs. I'd definitely give up SanDisk (and their overpriced, underperforming flash cards) for that.
Lekz on September 5, 2008 2:07 PM
hmm.. what are the chances Samsung incorporates Sansa as their main mp3 line if they did buy the company? if that did happen (or if not), then I hope the resulting mp3 players stay cheap
Kpalsm on September 5, 2008 2:33 PM
I might be willing to live with this as long as Samsung improves their MP3 player line using SanDisk's technology (their superior incorporation of expansion slots for example). Otherwise..I think this is going to be bad. I hope it's just a rumor.
MFG on September 5, 2008 4:39 PM
Sandisk is a recognized brand, and many people is now familiar with Sansa Players.
Would Samsung just trash the brand and the whole line of players?
Would the Sansa division become independent?
As a Sansa Clip owner, I'd be worried about what's going to happen with firmware updates and support.
slaughter on September 5, 2008 5:43 PM
This would be bad. Samsung abandons players just as fast as Creative. Samsung is about looks, Sandisk is about function. Bad move for consumers.
Grahm Skee on September 5, 2008 6:28 PM
If there were to happen, they will NOT integrate the two brands. SanDisk Sansa MP3 players will be sold side by side of Samsung MP3 players. It would be totally foolish to throw a perfectly good brand when they both are positioned in different segments of the MP3 player market. If anything this could be a boost to Samsung since SanDisk has fantastic retail distribution.
gabe565 on September 5, 2008 11:04 PM
I really hope this doesn't happen! I have been with the Sansa line of player since I was 8, and it would really stink if they just were bought out like that!This most likely won't happen, though, because SanDisk is a huge company, the top flash producer in the world! Samsung shouldn't ruin that!
Ben on September 6, 2008 3:44 AM
I don't know what would happen if Samsung did buy Sandisk, but I'm pretty sure I won't like the results.
Sirocco on September 6, 2008 4:38 PM
None of your assumptions are reasonable. They'll keep all existing models that make a profit, of course. What logo they stamp on it is irrelevant. And Samsung will agree to service all existing Sansa models, obviously.
Joe on September 8, 2008 12:09 AM
I highly doubt that Samsung would just flat-out cancel the profitable and acclaimed Sansa players. I think perhaps they could find a way to merge their two lines.
aaa on September 10, 2008 1:27 AM
Samsung Samsa
keep the brand, it sells better than the Yepps, but there's definitely a lot the "Samsa"'s can take from the Yepps, namely the P2, other than the P2, there's really no Yepp player that has much precedence
Timberg on September 11, 2008 5:58 PM
Sansa's line seem more reasonable and sensible than the Samsungs. I'm not knocking the Samsungs, but they seem too eager to chase the crowd and appeal to the grade-schoolers. What I've always like about Sansas are their relative sophistication and simplicity.
And their lack of touch surfaces. Don't get me started.
jason on September 23, 2008 1:00 AM
idk what you guys are talkin' about, i'm sure you all have not even own samsung players. samsung always had excellent build quality, compared to any sansa players. Even Sansa view has crappy feel GUI, scroll wheels and overall, it doesn't feel like any samsung players.
aaa
what do you mean Sansa sells better than yepps? Yepps sells more than sansa in world-wide.