Dell has announced it will discontinue selling its Dell-branded DJ Ditty MP3 music player. The company will redirect those financial resources to core consumer products like personal computers and televisions. The DJ Ditty product line was released only a year ago to take on Apple’s iPod Shuffle.
The news of this particular defeat is the latest in a series of blows
to Dell, following the recall of 4.1 million laptop batteries and weak
profits due to intense competition with rival HP. The Securities and
Exchange Commission is also informally investigating the company’s
revenue recognition practices.
Dell spokesman Venancio Figueroa explained that Dell will continue servicing DJ Ditty products while selling MP3
players produced by other manufactures, including SanDisk. “Apple
owns that market,” said
analyst Roger Kay. And what was Figueroa’s response to inquiries about DJ Ditty sales?
“People bought them,” he said.
