Here’s the latest news from the tech news pipeline, SanDisk, currently the 2nd largest market share holder after Apple in the digital music player category, is going to announce an 8GB Sansa e280 music player for $249.99 to tackle the company’s iPod Nano. Obviously with the similar price tag, you are also looking at double the storage than Nano. News reports suggest SanDisk also plans to shave off 30 percent in prices from its other music players.

Sure, cutting the price tag and boosting onboard storage will help SanDisk get some momentum with technology enthusiasts who know what they are getting, but what every company is struggling to do (despite price cuts, extraneous onboard storage and other such strategies) is capture a mainstream audience. That requires brand equity, something that Apple has already acquired. If people don’t perceive you as “cool,” you are going to have a very difficult time attracting mass attention. That’s just the way it works, but unfortunately these companies can do very little to change that.

Teenagers are quite honestly one of the top influencing groups when it comes to consumer electronics, and therefore, it’s essential for companies to capture their interest, which is ridiculously tough to do, unless of course, they are willing to spend millions upon millions of dollars in advertising.

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