i-Buy Samsung?

Here is a good time to question how much of Apple’s credibility in the market was actually shared by Steve Jobs. The i-pod, synonymous with the ‘it’ music players, is facing battery issues. With other players entering the market, it might find its stand becoming shaky. These ‘other players’, read mainly Samsung, it seems, have jumped in the market at the right time. And have created a splash.     

Samsung is back in the audio market with a vengeance. Because it got a late start, it doesn't sell many music players -- just 1.7 million last year, compared with Apple's 8.26 million. Samsung isn't even No. 1 in Korea, where rival Reigncom Ltd. sells more players under the iRiver brand. But Samsung has big plans. It's designing new players by the half dozen at a variety of prices. 

Samsung is also betting that future buyers of music players will want their machines to perform multiple entertainment tasks. The eight basic Yepp models that Samsung now produces all have built-in FM radios and other extras. Over the next two months the company will launch six new players, two of which will match iPod's ability to store your entire music collection. Another, the $350 YP-D1, will double as a digital camera, while the $400 YH-J70 will play music videos and movies. 

Skeptics are not very sure if Samsung’s strategy of flooding the market with this range can actually stop the  i-pod ringing, but fact remains, i-pod should watch out. Samsung’s calling it war.