How Stupid are iAudio??? where's 64GB/128GB??

[sick_sugar]

Ok, i've bought a 30GB X5L about 4-5 years ago i think.
I understand that flash has taken over, and suddenly we dropped to 2-4-8GB devices. But how stupid is this?? i've waited for 5 years to have a small device with the same iAudio quality and a large capacity, and after 5 years all i can get is a 32GB device. Suppose i use an extra SD, i can get to 64GB. but this is utterly rediculous after 5 years! I finally broke down and got a 250GB Archos with shitty SQ, and iAudio keep releasing devices with no more than 32GB!
How dumb are they?? i can't believe there's no demand for this... there is but they keep ignoring it... i just want a small music oriented device with large capacity! and they keep releasing small 32gb devices or huge video devices with large capacity... where's the logic in this?? there's a whole untapped market of people who want to take all their music with them, and i simply can't believe no company has answered to this demand all these years, especially now when you have 64-160GB SSD drives, and flash is so cheap and available...

So get off your asses, and make a quality device like you used to instead of recycling the same designs and the same features... I would love to get the D3, but for christ sake, IT HAS TO HAVE A LARGE CAPACITY FOR MUSIC!
128GB at least! Somebody do something already!! i'm going insane!!

[TheDarkSide]

All of us are quite annoyed @Cowon for not creating a 64gb version of the D3,...Apple did it, even crappy Creative has. I agree, Cowon is a strange beast when it comes to some things - and this is just 1 of them.

[snakebite2]

How much would you pay if they made one? Would you pay $500 for one? The 32gb D3 is $444 at advancedmp3players. It cost about $100 for an 32gb micro sd.

[HometownZero]

I don't really get why you didn't get a Cowon X7. It's less than an inch bigger than a D3, it has a 160GB HDD, and it's not made by Archos. The X7 does have some bugs though, but it's something most of us have come to expect from new Cowon devices before additional firmware updates.

[JunglePimp]

Well. We're all waiting for some product released by cowon that gives us ample reasons to buy it, flaunt it and be happy.

[sick_sugar]

@snakebite: YES! after so many years of waiting for a decent mp3 player that focuses on music, has quality sound output, has decent battery life, and has android as a bonus, i would pay pretty much whatever they asked me. I'm tired of compromises. I don't want an iPod, i don't want a huge heavy archos with bad SQ. I want a device the size of an X5, with a lot more space, more battery life, and any bonuses such as a nice quality screen and OS like android would be most welcome. But Cowon and other companies have stopped addressing the real issues. All they do is just release the same product again and again... 8 different models with the same capacity, COMON!

@Hometownzero: i got the archos before the X7 was announced, but the X7 was a disappointment, it's exactly the same size as the archos, has LESS space, and i don't think it's even available in my country yet.

It seems to me that Cowon aren't very attentive to their customers' needs, and aren't even trying to be at all innovative in what they do.
They used to provide the ideal combination of capacity, SQ and battery life... now they're doing nothing...

[snakebite2]

@snakebite: YES! after so many years of waiting for a decent mp3 player that focuses on music, has quality sound output, has decent battery life, and has android as a bonus, i would pay pretty much whatever they asked me. I'm tired of compromises. I don't want an iPod, i don't want a huge heavy archos with bad SQ. I want a device the size of an X5, with a lot more space, more battery life, and any bonuses such as a nice quality screen and OS like android would be most welcome. But Cowon and other companies have stopped addressing the real issues. All they do is just release the same product again and again... 8 different models with the same capacity, COMON!

It seems to me that Cowon aren't very attentive to their customers' needs, and aren't even trying to be at all innovative in what they do.
They used to provide the ideal combination of capacity, SQ and battery life... now they're doing nothing...
Maybe they'll release a 64gb later. They released a s9 32gb late I think.

[Ginge]

I couldn't agree more with this, Cowon has always been stingy with storage space and it seems we'll be stuck with the 32gb barrier for quite some time. 32gb has been the standard for a couple of years now, we should be way past this point. If Cowon really wants to "wow" people, they need to stop being so cheap with storage... 64gb should have been the standard size at launch. I broke down a couple of years ago and bought a crappy Creative Zen 32gb simply because Cowon couldn't get past the 16gb mark, that was April of 2008. When they finally get to the 32gb mark, other companies have moved on the 64gb mark... it's very frustrating being a fan of Cowon.

I love the idea of the D3, but there is simply no way I am shelling out that kind of money for 32 gigs of space... for that money, they should be at 128gb. By Cowon's timetable, they'll get to 128gb when everyone else is at 256 or 512... so looks like my next Cowon purchase won't be until 2015 (and that's being optimistic)...

[4DThinker]

Cowon doesn't make their own memory chips, which means they have to compete for chips on the market with the likes of Apple (who buys millions at a time) and Sansa who make the chips. The 32gb iPod Touch for less than $299 and Cowon D3 32gb for $370 shows that everyone does not pay the same for parts. It leaves the D3 overpriced and a hard sell even with 32gb, much harder with 64gb or more.

Notice they haven't released 8gb or 16gb models yet. At least not in the U.S..

[Ginge]

Most manufacturers of quality MP3 players (Cowon, Sony, Apple, etc.) don't make their own chips, that's nothing earth shattering. Cowon has been particularly behind the curve in this area though, and it hurts them with sales. People didn't want a high priced 16gb player in 2009/10 and they aren't going to be attracted an expensive 32g player in 2011. You can't charge next gen prices (64gb/128bg) for last gen (32gb) capacity. They need to find a way to get the chips cheaper... but I'd be willing to shell out extra cash for a 64gb player.

Releasing a 8gb player at this point would just be a joke.

[HipHopScribe]

They just released a player with 160GB capacity recently. If you're talking flash memory, it should be pretty clear why they don't offer that capacity yet. The companies that do offer players with that capacity are either in a position to negotiate cheaper prices from memory manufacturers (Apple, Microsoft), and are also producing in a higher volume, or they off-set the cost by going cheap on other aspects (Creative). It's clear that Cowon would be targeting a very small audience, among what is already a pretty niche market for them outside their home country, with a very very expensive player.