View this article at: http://www.macnn.com/articles/05/02/17/sony.ipod.competit/ Thursday, Feb 17, 2005 9:05am Sony plans iPod competitor, denies Apple buyout Sony said it would release a product by the end of the year to compete with the iPod, reports Business World. "We are confident of being able to offer by the end of the year a product that is much more competitive than the iPod," president Kunitake Ando said. Ando said Apple's success was in developing a product that is simple to use. "We have to develop software that makes use of our products more intuitive and simple," he told reporters. Ando also dismissed rumours the company will buy Apple, saying it "has become too expensive because of the success of iPod." Chairman and chief executive Nobuyuki Idei added: "We have put in place a very aggressive plan to become number one again" in portable music.