Monster Digital, an independent partner of Monster, will launch...

Monster Digital, an independent partner of Monster, will launch a line of external solid-state drives at CES, Chief Operating Officer Michael Ridling told us during a press tour in Manhattan Thursday. The 80GB to 400GB drives, due in stores at the end of January, will come as standalone products and as part of a do-it-yourself kit that allows consumers to upgrade PCs by swapping out aging hard drives for an SSD, Ridling said. Kits will include everything a user needs to upgrade the drive, including a USB cable, software, screwdriver, rail kit for desktop PCs and an instruction manual, Ridling said. Toll-free customer support will also be available, he said. In the emerging SSD replacement market, Monster Digital will rely on the “Monster training engine” to educate dealers about SSD replacement drives, he said. He conceded that the efficacy of retail sales staffs is shrinking and said the company has developed packaging that includes features and benefits to help sell the product without a salesperson present. Monster Digital, a digital storage company launched out of a multi-decade trademark and licensing deal between Monster and SDJ Technologies, entered the market during Black Friday weekend with a line of “high-speed, high-performance” SD cards. Ridling said the SD cards, billed as premium storage solutions, sell for roughly 15 percent above most of the 400 competitor brands on the market. Monster Digital has its sights on market leader SanDisk and plans to compete on price “head to head,” but with faster read/write speeds, Ridling said. Monster Digital launched in InMotion Entertainment outlets in airports. In addition to standard CE distribution outlets, the company plans to sell specialized chains such as Guitar Center stores, where musicians shop for SD-card based music equipment, he said. The company will also launch line of premium CompactFlash cards at CES, Ridling said.