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Why do so many DAPs lack memory expansion?

post #1 of 9
3/13/10 at 8:14am
Thread Starter 
This question has been asked before.. but what does through the minds of the people with business plans at companies selling DAPs w/o memory expansion?

I can understand if there were some cases were the DAP was limited by design, but a microSD slot is so small. Granted a company may want to steer you in its lineup of players, but since we have a marketplace.. with so many DAPs lacking this capability why not break the trend and offer it?


Whatever is lost on selling a higher memory player may be made up moving more units from ppl moving off the fence b/c of the feature one was waiting for.

Leaving this question open for discussion..
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post #2 of 9
3/13/10 at 9:56am
Don't forget, DAPs aren't made for people looking for absolute SQ with FLACs or at least high bitrate mp3 etc, and saving anything on design can push up profit margins. Also - from what I've noticed lots of people will give themselves a size (8gb for example) and then go and buy something in that range.
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post #3 of 9
3/13/10 at 11:39am
There are many manufacturers who do cater to those who like expansion, but when the most successful manufacturer of DAPs doesn't have any expansion i am assuming most realize that it isn't required to sell well.
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post #4 of 9
3/13/10 at 12:42pm
Impressive design over impressive specification sheet has become the new trend. (I mean, even the 2g iPod's look like crap).
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post #5 of 9
3/13/10 at 1:15pm
It's easier to make the DAP without portable storage; saves space and can keep the design symmetrical (which all iPods are except for the headphone port and lock switch).

Also, if someone wants more space, they can just get a card if their player needs it. If someone wants more space on an iPod what do they do? They go and buy a Classic. More money towards the company if they force the consumer to buy another player from them.
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post #6 of 9
3/13/10 at 3:09pm
because they want more money!

if they put an expansion slot in there, the memory card companies will be making the money. not the DAP company.

Of course the dap want the money all to themselves
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post #7 of 9
3/13/10 at 3:41pm
A couple reasons I can think of:

1. Planned obsolescence. Apple, like other manufacturers, have a planned out release schedule of players and capacities. This helps them make the most money from people buying a new model player with more capacity.

2. Introducing a complex, unpredictable element into the product. It would take a lot of time to implement an expansion slot into the firmware. In addition, it would have to work with a wide array of capacities and brands, and methods that paople use to format it. It might cost the company a lot of money in tech support hours if it wasn't implemented perfectly.
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post #8 of 9
3/13/10 at 4:31pm
I can think of some possible reasons:
* Model updates. The vendor may want to keep control of the storage space on the unit themselves. Hence release a new updated version down the road, with larger storage space, and "force" customers to buy a new unit.
* Low demand. The masses may just want a simple unit that gets the job done.
* Cost. A memory expansion slot would add costs.
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post #9 of 9
3/13/10 at 4:59pm
Dave Mac from the microsoft zune team posts on the ABI forum, part of his job is to engage the custom base and so on.

He proposed an interesting but probably quite honest answer - Sandisk is a competitor in the DAP market - when other manufacturers put SD slots in their players they are helping fund their competitors.
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