Why Clip Zip and Clip+ Processor (Rockbox) AS3525v2 is discontinued

Does anyone know why the processor of the clip zip and clip+ (and also Rockbox possibilites) is no more in production. There would be a lot of people thankful if this could be possible. They would even pay more money to use Rockbox and all other functions in the future…

As I understand it, the manufacturer of the chip discontinued it so SanDisk had to find another source. Other mp3 player manufacturers were also affected.

I don’t know why the chip manufacturer discontinued it–you would think that given that the chip already had been developed (and so, there were no further costs there) and that there was an active customer base (at least SanDisk), the manufacturer would just continue churning the chips out and making money.

 I’ve also wondered why the particular chip that was chosen as a replacement was chosen.  Over time, chip price goes down and power/capabilities go up dramatically.  And yet the replacement chip that the chip customers chose here is less powerful than the previous, even though it is many years later.

:frowning:

@lacres wrote:

Does anyone know why the processor of the clip zip and clip+ (and also Rockbox possibilites) is no more in production. There would be a lot of people thankful if this could be possible. They would even pay more money to use Rockbox and all other functions in the future…

It was a custom part made only for Sandisk, so they would have discontinued it when Sandisk stopped ordering them.  

@miikerman wrote:

 

 I’ve also wondered why the particular chip that was chosen as a replacement was chosen. 

I think the company that designed the newer Sandisk players uses it in most of their products.  They apparently specialize in low power DSP firmware/devices:

http://www.perceptiondigital.com/themes/customer/en/files/DSP.pdf

@saratoga wrote:


@lacres wrote:

Does anyone know why the processor of the clip zip and clip+ (and also Rockbox possibilites) is no more in production. There would be a lot of people thankful if this could be possible. They would even pay more money to use Rockbox and all other functions in the future…


It was a custom part made only for Sandisk, so they would have discontinued it when Sandisk stopped ordering them.  

Thanks–interesting.  And so, then, SanDisk had made the business decision to abandon the Clip+ and Clip Zip products? 

I just don’t understand that, when the products presumably still were successful at least to some degree with on-going sales and the costs already were sunk, and when SanDisk wasn’t abandoning the field but then went forward with the less advantageous Sport and Jam, the only advantages in which I can see being the battery life (perhaps there is another feature as well)–perhaps lower manufacturing costs?  At the very least, why not just have the + and Zip models available online at SanDisk’s own store and/or through an outlet such as Amazon.com

Why not just market the heck out of the already-existing + and Zip models, as the fruit company did earlier with its player products to great success?  (For heaven’s sake, its marketing convinced hoards of people that a screen-less player is better than one with a screen!)  Or, even better, “just tinker” with the products and re-issue them for consumer upgrading (ala the fruit company)?  Such as, in metal-cased enclosures (e.g. in champagne, gun-metal grey, and bronze), with increased (and relatively inexpensive, nowadays) on-board memory, and with updated/current-day database capacity capability?  I’m not an engineer and I know that this “tinkering” would take some time/engineering, but really, couldn’t it be accomplished easily enough–for heaven’s sake, SanDisk could simply issue out a formal Clip Rockbox co-branded edition (I really like this idea!)–and at limited cost, with a relative nice sales upside, and giving stores such as Best Buy a new model to feature? 

Ah, to be emperor for a day . . . .

That company lists Sansa Clip clones on their website.  I suspect the reason that Sandisk picked them was that it was cheaper for them to buy the clone rather than make the original.  

It is probably tremendously more profitable to sell the new Jam and Sport models to everyone than to front the costs of continuing to make the old models.  You really want to have as large a volume as possible.  Even back when Sandisk sold a ton of different models, internally they were mostly the same device with a different plastic shell to minimize costs.

Sigh–international dynamics? 

I bought the Sport foolishly thinking it would be a superset of the Zip features.  What a mistake that was.  The Sport is really a crippled Zip.  There is not even a capability to add an album to the Go-List on the fly.  I accidentally left the Sport at an overseas site and have never bothered to retrieve it.  I have gone back to my old Zip despite some of the buttons needing repeated excessive force before they respond.  I cannot believe that Sandisk has thrown this baby out with the bathwater.

Rattling the bones of an old thread I know, but has anyone noticed

the prices some people are asking for the Clip Zip and Clip+ players?

As I type, both Ebay and Amazon have Zip+ at around $380 AUD or 265 USD.  [1][2]

What were they selling for when they were current, 40 or 50 bucks"?

If, and I stress the “if”, there’s a market for AS3525v2 devices, I ask Sandisk; WTF are you doing?

That pricing alone should be enough to have Sandisk at least investigate the business case.

Maybe buy the rights, produce it under license, something, they’re a silicon giant.

On a side note, I read above, of clone devices. Anyone able to recommend any “good” ones?

Happy Canning

[1]   ebay.com.au /itm/111831394745

[2]   amazon.com.au /SanDisk-Sansa-Player-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B002MAPS6W/