In a sign that flash memory continues to become more ubiquitous and replace film and other storage mediums, flash memory leader SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) announced that it is broadening its "Shoot and Store" line beyond flash memory devices that can be used in cameras. The newest member of the product line that can be found in grocery stores such as Safeway (NYSE:SWY) and drugstores such as CVS (NYSE:CVS) is a USB flash device.
Having taken a look at SanDisk's website, I conclude that the "Shoot and Store" line is definitely geared toward consumers who are not likely to be PC-savvy. As my Foolish neighbor Seth Jayson pointed out, it's a product line geared toward storing photos and then using the card itself instead of a PC hard drive as the storage medium. It's an interesting strategy and one I can certainly understand for folks who don't have a PC.
The other telltale sign of the target audience for these products is how they're marketed. They're categorized not by their size in geek-speak, such as megabytes or gigabytes, but by the number of pictures that the card can hold using a 1-megapixel camera -- the geek-speak returns -- as a baseline. This follows the same logic Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) uses in marketing its iPod line by number of songs instead of bytes. It makes a good deal of sense to push this methodology out to consumers who may find they're in need of some more "digital film" but don't want to make the trek out to the local Circuit City (NYSE:CC).
As you might expect, these are not memory cards that are going to hold a large amount of data. But if SanDisk can build a market for 32MB memory sticks in a grocery stores at $12.99 a pop, the margins might well be better than what they get for the 128MB SanDisk memory stick I found online a few minutes ago for only $14.39.
Looking at SanDisk in its own right, the shares aren't unreasonably priced at 16.5 times trailing earnings, a rock-solid balance sheet, and especially considering the fact that the company historically does well in its market against its main competitor Lexar (NASDAQ:LEXR), because it is the low-cost leader. Tech investing is not as easy as folks often make it seem, but SanDisk is one of the more interesting opportunities in the tech arena at today's prices and one I'm keeping an eye on.
For more SanDisk-related Foolishness, check out:
- SanDisk Stinks, But I'm Not Selling
- SanDisk Smashed
- Is it Little Things atLexar that matter?
Nathan Parmelee has no financial interest in any of the companies mentioned. You can view his profile here. The Motley Fool has an iron-clad disclosure policy.
