Samsung Electronics has expanded its Memory Stick
licensing agreement with Sony and plans to begin manufacturing its
own-brand Memory Stick memory cards.
The deal covers manufacture of the basic blue-coloured Memory
Stick and Memory Stick Duo cards and does not include the newer
Memory Stick Pro or expansion module cards, said Aki Shimazu, a
spokeswoman for Sony.
Samsung is the fourth company to license Sony's technology. It
expects to begin production in August or September and begin sales
shortly afterwards, said Jun Yim, a spokesman for Samsung.
Although there will be more competition in the market, the
Samsung move is not expected to bring significantly lower prices
for consumers.
"I think the price will be comparable with existing
manufacturers," said Yim.
The deal builds on a licensing agreement signed between the
companies in 2001 that gave Samsung the ability to include Memory
Stick slots and support in its digital consumer electronics
products. To date Samsung has included a Memory Stick slot in
several products including a notebook personal computer and DVD
player.
Samsung said it is currently developing at least one cellular
telephone that will feature a Memory Stick slot.
Memory Stick, launched by Sony in 1998, was the top selling
memory card format in 2002, according to a July report by market
research company IDC. About 18 million cards were shipped during
the year, thanks in large part to the popularity of Sony-brand
consumer electronics products. Over the next five years IDC expects
shipment growth of Memory Stick Duo to be particularly strong and
for it to be the number two memory card format, behind leader mini
SD, by 2007.
Martyn Williams writes for IDG News Service