SanDisk, a Milpitas, Calif.-based producer of flash memory, plans to announce on Monday a set of music-player upgrades, price cuts and a new MP3 player, dubbed the Sansa e280, with a price that’s comparable to Apple Computer’s uber-popular iPod nano and with twice the storage capacity, The Wall Street Journal reports.SanDisk plans to unveil its $249.99, 8GB Sansa e280—which can store roughly 2,000 songs—and it also said it would cut the prices of its other music players by almost 30 percent, according to the Journal. SanDisk e200 series SanDisk is attempting to generate some positive buzz around its MP3 players, which are currently number two in the digital music player space behind Apple’s golden child, and draw attention to its products before the important upcoming holiday sales rush.The flash maker also said it would soon undercut Apple by offering a music player that sells for less than $100, the Journal reports. Though most firms that have come up against Apple in the digital music player space have failed to present any significant competition to the Cupertino, Calif.-based electronics and computer giant in the past, SanDisk is Apple’s closest competitor in the United States, according to the Journal.Eli Harari, SanDisk chief executive officer, said, “The battle for us was to establish ourselves as the clear number two, to distance ourselves from Creative, Samsung and Sony. It was quite surprising to us, frankly, how quickly and readily our products were accepted,” according to the Journal. SanDisk has an edge over many competitors in the digital media player market, as it uses its own flash-memory chips and is therefore able to offer its products at lower prices than rivals, the Journal reports.Apple didn’t immediately respond to the Journal’s inquiry regarding SanDisk’s planned announcement.The news comes amid a brewing media storm around Microsoft’s upcoming Zune digital media player, which the company confirmed last month, and it said it would sink hundreds of millions of dollars into the device’s development before its pre-holiday release. Just last week, previously unannounced details regarding Zune’s user interface, as well as a new photo, surfaced online.Related Links: Microsoft Zune Details, Photos Emerge on Web Microsoft to Sink ‘Hundreds of Millions’ into Zune iPod Rival Microsoft ‘Zune’ iPod Challenger Confirmed by RedmondCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Freshworks When your AI chatbots mess up AI ‘hallucinations’ present significant business risks, but new types of guardrails can keep them from doing serious damage By Paul Gillin Dec 08, 2023 4 mins Generative AI brandpost Sponsored by Dell New research: How IT leaders drive business benefits by accelerating device refresh strategies Security leaders have particular concerns that older devices are more vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. By Laura McEwan Dec 08, 2023 3 mins Infrastructure Management case study Toyota transforms IT service desk with gen AI To help promote insourcing and quality control, Toyota Motor North America is leveraging generative AI for HR and IT service desk requests. By Thor Olavsrud Dec 08, 2023 7 mins Employee Experience Generative AI ICT Partners feature CSM certification: Costs, requirements, and all you need to know The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification sets the standard for establishing Scrum theory, developing practical applications and rules, and leading teams and stakeholders through the development process. By Moira Alexander Dec 08, 2023 8 mins Certifications IT Skills Project Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe