SanDisk Announces 2 GB Memory Stick

SanDisk has announced that it will soon introduce a 2 gigabyte Memory Stick PRO, the highest capacity available in this card format.

SanDisk's 2 gigabyte Memory Stick PRO card is expected to be available in February with a suggested list price of $1,000.

SanDisk and Sony first introduced the Memory Stick PRO a year ago, at CES 2003. Until today's announcement, the largest card using this format has been 1 GB. Currently, prices for 1 GB cards start at $400.

With this announcement, the Memory Stick maintains its lead in capacity over SD cards. SanDisk recently said it is going to begin shipping in the coming weeks the first 1GB SD cards, half the capacity of the upcoming Memory Stick PRO. However, SD cards are used in more devices and, beginning a few months ago, SD took the lead in U.S. sales. CompactFlash is in second place and Memory Stick is third.

Memory Stick PRO was a bit controversial when it was announced, as it wasn't backwards compatible with older Clie handhelds. However, all Sony handhelds running Palm OS 5 can use these cards. The maximum capacity for this format is 32 GB, though it will be some time before cards this large are available.

This announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where SanDisk is demonstrating its products.

Related Links

• SanDisk 1 GB SD Cards Coming Later this Month
• Sony Launches High-Capacity Memory Stick PRO