Lexar memory cards are being discontinued

[nardes]

Saw this news today, Lexar memory cards are being discontinued...

https://petapixel.com/2017/06/27/r-p...-memory-cards/

Wow - that is big news indeed!

Cheers

Dennis

[Tannin]

^$#%&**@! You know what this is going to do to Sandisk prices. Ouch.

[ameerat42]

^$#%&**@! You know what this is going to do to Sandisk prices. Ouch.

Possible financial mega HURTS!

[Mary Anne]

Sad news indeed Dennis as I like Lexar Products, I also use their Card Readers and still have one unopened that I bought a few years ago when the price of two was not much more than one.

My last four SD Sandisk cards purchase from an Australian brick and mortar store had to be replaced they just fell apart.
Though no problems with the two Lexar 64 Pro GB SD cards I bought to replace them.. While I waited a couple of months for Sandisk to do the right thing.

[Hamster]

Whys that? If their retail arm is so small it's not worth keeping alive, and the pile them high sell them cheap mobs are still buying, why would Sandisk raise their prices? Or is that not what you're saying and I'm missing the point ?

[Roane Photo]

There may still be a chance that the Lexar brand — and Lexar branded memory cards — are brought back from the dead: Micron says it’s “exploring opportunities to sell all or part of the Lexar business,” and our source tells us that there are already prospective buyers interested in making a deal.

More than likely this will happen and one of three possible things will happen.

1.Purchase will go ahead and nothing will change.

2.Purchase will happen and product will stay the same but prices will go up.

3.Purchase will happen product will degrade and prices will go up or stay the same.

I am banking on 3.

[Tannin]

Cheers Hamster. Basically there are only two top-tier brands of flash card, only two brands with big reputations for quality and reliability. these are the two brands that pros and other people wanting pro-level quality automatically look to, and are prepared to pay a premium for. Sandisk is the #1, Lexar #2, all other brands are in their shadow. (This is not to say that no other brands are any good: simply that few buyers in that top-of-the-market space know much about the other brands, and most hesitate to rely on what they see as off-brand products. If in doubt, you buy a bit extra for Lexar or Sandisk because you know they are OK.)

And now Sandisk has been taken over by Western Digital (a storage company with a decades-long history of dedication to performance and marketing first and reliability only second), and Lexar is going to disappear. Ouch!

[nardes]

Whys that? If their retail arm is so small it's not worth keeping alive, and the pile them high sell them cheap mobs are still buying, why would Sandisk raise their prices? Or is that not what you're saying and I'm missing the point ?

I’m not sure if this question is being directed to the OP(me) or the post that precedes it, and if I understand the intent of the question.

As a general observation, my experience has been that having choice is a good thing so if only one memory card provider dominates the market, then that limits choice.

I have had problems with card readers and have found that the Lexar UDMA USB3 card reader has been very reliable and consistent, whereas my previous SanDisk reader was not as reliable. Whether that was user error or some unexpected behaviour related to my particular computer system and its configuration I’m not sure.

But, having a 2nd choice (Lexar) did provide me with a solution which was a good outcome.

Cheers

Dennis

[Tannin]

Perhaps we will see one or two of the second-tier brands step up and establish the sort of reputation in the future that Sandisk and Lexar have today.

[Hamster]

I’m not sure if this question is being directed to the OP(me) or the post that precedes it, and if I understand the intent of the question.

As a general observation, my experience has been that having choice is a good thing so if only one memory card provider dominates the market, then that limits choice.

I have had problems with card readers and have found that the Lexar UDMA USB3 card reader has been very reliable and consistent, whereas my previous SanDisk reader was not as reliable. Whether that was user error or some unexpected behaviour related to my particular computer system and its configuration I’m not sure.

But, having a 2nd choice (Lexar) did provide me with a solution which was a good outcome.

Cheers

Dennis

Yeah, sorry. Mary Anne got a post in first which made my reply slightly confusing. It was a reply/question to Tannin and Am.

Knowing that Lexar supply all their cards to amazon and Google means the savvy supplier can just switch if Sandisk up their prices. As with many goods, there are usually limited manufacturers, but multiple repackaging at various prices after this. The trick is to find who the premium names supply to and buy at the "no name" price.

[ricktas]

it also needs to be noted that the SD format is jointly owned by Sandisk, Panasonic and Toshiba. whilst the microSD format is wholly owned by Sandisk. From my point of view, Samsung (who own the CF format) make damn good quality SD and MicroSD cards.

So with the joint ownership of the SD format, chances are Panasonic and Toshiba will allow licencing to others to make SD cards. MicroSD being wholly owned by Sandisk means they can more tightly control the market and $.

[farmmax]

I for one would be sad to see the Lexar cards go. They have behaved faultlessly for me. Cannot say the same about the Sandisk ones, and would steer away from buying another one again

[arthurking83]

....

And now Sandisk has been taken over by Western Digital (a storage company with a decades-long history of dedication to performance and marketing first and reliability only second), and Lexar is going to disappear. Ouch!

Hopefully WD can effect some quality control at SanDisk at some point.

I have about 10 WD hard drives of various vintages, sizes and consumer levels .. never had any of them break or die.
SanDisk on the other hand .. far too many dead cards, some CF, mainly mSD types. All completely corrupted and irrepairable/unrecoverable.

I'm hoping that Roanne's #3 scenario won't happen .... but it most likely will!

The issue of any ptential demise of Lexar as a brand isn't all too big other than, for Nikon camera owners that rely on the XQD card format.
If Lexar does either disappear or decline in quality ... the only other maker of XQD cards is Sony!
Can't be a good situation for the consumer with only one dependable brand making a product to reply on.

[Tannin]

Arthur, I've handled thousands of drives, not merely 10 (not all of them WD, of course) and until recently been required to track their failure rates as part of servicing our warranties. Individual models from any given manufacturer vary in their return rate, so it's dangerous to generalise about manufacturers too broadly. Nevertheless, WD have been extraordinarily consistent for more than two decades in their market targeting, and flowing from that, their design priorities.