QUE TRIZTEZHA!
Posted on 08/29/2005 4:15:24 PM PDT by Panerai
The Japanese company that makes the Rio line of MP3 players is shuttering its portable digital-audio division.
Rio parent D&M Holdings said on Friday that the ultra-competitive business no longer fit its market strategy.
Although it has only a small market share compared to Apple Computer's iPod, the Rio brand name has been linked with the early days of digital-music history since weathering a lawsuit from the recording industry that aimed to shut down the MP3 hardware business.
D&M Holdings--which also owns high-end home audio brands including Denon and Marantz, and is close to acquiring Boston Acoustics--said the portable MP3 player business required too much investment, and didn't offer enough return, to warrant continuing.
The company said it will stop producing the Rio line of products at the end of September.
Despite its history of innovative designs, the Rio brand has had a choppy corporate history.
Originally produced by Diamond Multimedia, the first Rio-branded MP3 player triggered a lawsuit in 1998 from the Recording Industry Association of America, which at the time viewed MP3 as primarily a format for music pirates.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
Score (another) one for iPod: Rio folds
Remember the days when "Rio" was almost synonymous with "MP3 player"? Well, those days are over now. Rio's parent company says it no longer wants to play in the hypercompetitive digital audio sandbox, what with all those iPod bullies pushing everyone around. Rio and its ball are going home.
can't blame them.
Since this is still a relatively young, competitive market, it's hard to make a buck (unless you can sell on niche or brand and charge a premium for it, ala the ipod) The better bet is what they're currently doing - upper mid to high level audio. You can charge a premium and make a greater return per unit.
QUE TRIZTEZHA!
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