Creative said Thursday it will introduce three new versions of its popular Zen Micro audio player to meet "strong consumer demand." The new players will come in 1GB, 4GB and 6GB models. The original Zen Micro had a capacity of 5GB, and according to the company, sold out quickly in many retail locations.

Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and CEO of Creative, says the company plans "to increase our production capacity significantly this quarter."

Creative launched the Zen Micro last October to compete with the success of Apple's iPod mini, which offers 4GB of music storage. Both companies have discovered a market for lower-cost players with smaller capacities, and Apple intends to unveil its own 1GB and 2GB Flash-based iPods next week.

Creative's Hoo said that the 1GB Zen Micro will retail for $199 USD, and the 4GB for $229 USD, to which he said it "has twice the song capacity of the iPod mini and far more features for a lower price." The 6GB version will retail for $299 USD.

Creative expects the two larger versions to ship later this month. The smaller 1GB Zen Micro is expected to ship later in the first quarter of 2005.