Text Size

Sony Walkman E020 headed to US, priced

updated 12:00 pm EDT, Fri May 23, 2008

Sony Walkman E020 for US

Sony has already confirmed a US launch and set pricing for the E020 series Walkman lineup, says the Asian branch of Crave. In announcing an Asian launch, Sony says the flash-based music player will sell for $69 in a 1GB edition and $79 for 2GB of storage. The E020's signature swappable faceplates will make the overseas trip and should sell separately for $12. beyond those that come with a given device.

In the transition to the US, the new Walkmen are reportedly dropping the need for Sony's Windows-only SonicStage software in favor of a drag-and-drop solution that lets anyone load unprotected AAC, ATRAC, MP3, or WMA tracks through their operating system. Sony also ships the E020 lineup with a built-in three-line color LCD with album art support and premium earbuds.

 
Previous Comments

$10 diff for a GIG?

05/23, 12:50pm reply

This is just dumb marketing. Why even bother with the 1 GB model? $10 to double the memory is a no-brainer. The only people that would buy the 1GB are those that don't know and will feel like they got ripped off later.

simdude

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2004

+1

Sony is a sucka

05/23, 01:14pm (1 reply) reply

Wow, it took only 10 years for them to figure out that all folks want to do is drag and drop what they have onto the device and just have it work for f***'s sake??!

LOLSONY

OtisWild

Junior Member

Joined: Feb 2005

+2

It's all about upsell

05/23, 02:59pm reply

Sony is likely making a bigger margin on the 2GB model, so it probably lifted the base price close enough that it would seem "obvious" that the $79 model is the sweet spot. Apple does that in reverse with the iPod touch; going from 8GB to 16GB with the iPod touch doesn't actually cost $100 more, so Apple is making a larger profit on the more expensive model.

Commodus

Mac Elite

Joined: Feb 2002

0

Re: upsell

05/23, 03:39pm reply

I'm not sure what you mean by saying "Apple does that in reverse". It seems the same to me. The 8GB model is priced higher than what it should be so people will more likely go after it.

IIRC, game consoles sell the same way.

testudo

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

-1

Ah,

05/23, 06:02pm reply

Marvellous. And obviously for the obscene prices they throw at the end-user these days Adobe will be shipping 64-bit Mac suites by October... oh, wait a minute.

UnCal

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2007

-2

Popular News