Sony brandishes tiny Memory Stick at chip rivals

The latest announcement came after the Tokyo stock market closed. Sony shares ended down 4.68 per cent at 13,450 yen in a market depressed by recent weakness in US high-tech shares.

SONY FACES COMPETITION: Sony8217;s made its announcement just as 71 high-tech and software firms from around the world, including Compaq Computer Corp and Hewlett Packard, gathered across town in Tokyo8217;s central business district to discuss setting and promoting industry standards for SD Memory Cards.

The Sony and SD camps have been vying to dominate the fast-growing market for memory devices using flash-memory chips, which retain their data even if the power source is cut off.

SD Memory Cards and audio players are being developed by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, Toshiba Corp and US-based SanDisk Corp for launch in the spring of this year.

While Sony already has the lead in compact memory devices for the audio market, after launching a Memory Stick Walkman that can download music from the Internet, SD boosters said the breadth of their camp would give them the lion8217;s share of the potentially lucrative market. quot;We8217;re looking to promote global adoption of SD cards across a wide range of applications and markets,quot; Secure Digital Association President Ray Creech told a news conference. quot;And the breadth of the participating companies shows the importance of our association.quot;

The association hopes to establish standard specifications for the next generation of SD Memory Card applications, such as moving picture and Bluetooth technology, by the end of this year.

SONY CONFIDENT: While Sony appears outnumbered by the SD side, Sony officials were confident the Memory Stick would not meet the same unhappy fate as its Betamax video technology, which was relegated to niche markets after Sony refused to licence it to other manufacturers. The rival VHS format quickly became the industry standard.

quot;We8217;re not worried about numbers,quot; said Masaharu Yanaga, senior general manager of Sony8217;s Memory Stick division. Sony has been actively recruiting firms to licence its Memory Stick technology, and as of late February, 46 companies including General Motors Corp and Hitachi Ltd were licensed to develop and make hardware using the device.

Sony Corporate vice-president Yutaka Nakagawa said the company does not plan to standardise specifications for its Memory Stick to make it compatible with SD Memory Cards and does not believe having two incompatible memory devices will inconvenience consumers. quot;This market has huge potential and I think various media can co-exist,quot; he said.