Sony is hoping that its new line of digital music players will allow it to return to the days where it was the dominant force in portable music players. The new devices will bear the Walkman name and feature display screens, disk-controlled menus and internal memory (enough for 13,000 songs in the top end models). Unfortunately, so far, it sounds like every other digital music player out there so far. Prices are also expected to be slightly higher than equivalent iPods (I’m sure that will help kill the iPod!). Apple will be a tough opponent – Its Japanese iTunes music service sold more than one million songs in its first four days of operation, a figure higher than what all other online music sites sell in a month.
So, does Sony have something up have its sleeve or will its ambitious goal of selling 4.5 million of these new Walkmans worldwide in the fiscal year (ending next March) remain just a lofty dream?