iPod's first REAL competition?

There have been loads of pretenders in the battle against the iPod. Nothing has made a dent. The Zune from Microsoft won’t.

But, I have a gut feeling that things could get exciting in the next 12 months.

Real Networks partnership with Sandisk with the release of the Sansa MP3player may be the first small threat.Michael Parekh has a great post with all the links and details.

I love the SanDisk brand and products, but have ALWAYS been burned in component plays. Real Networks is a different story. Nobody is considering them, they get NO respect.

Here is the lifetime story of the STOCK of Real networks (RNWK) courtesy of my favorite new toy – Yahoo charts.

The stock is nowhere near an all-time high. It will never get there. If it keeps making small waves, it SHOULD get bought. I own the stock because if you knock out the “bubble years” the stock is really making significant highs (2001). I have posted on my ownership for a while. I want to be here just in case. I will be adding a little more next week.

Disclosure – Long Real Networks and Apple.

PS – Good post from Charlie about Music and Social networks and why Apple should buy last.fm. I hope Apple is reading and thinking this stuff through.