However, at least in North America, the technology is coming out at a bad time, analysts said. Consumers are used to having digital content, especially music, available on any device they choose to put it on, said Charles Golvin of Forrester Research. And the trend is moving toward content distribution over the carriers' increasingly fast data networks instead of offline, he said.

"I don't see this as becoming a really significant distribution mechanism," Golvin said. The two biggest U.S. GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) operators, AT&T and T-Mobile USA, said they were not prepared to comment on the idea.

With content that is specifically for the phone, such as maps for use with a navigation application, SanDisk's approach might make sense, said In-Stat analyst Allen Nogee. But in the wake of recent events such as Apple's move to sell songs on iTunes without DRM (digital rights management), it isn't likely to be a big draw for other types of content, he said.