Zune plays swan song

I don’t doubt that many or even most Zune owners are satisfied with what they have. Here’s my thing: Apple dove into the MP3 market when that market was already well on its way to maturity. The iPod quickly made a big splash, and iTunes has played no small part in helping the iPod acquire a 70% market share. Apple did not engage in illegal, monopolistic business practices in order to achieve that level of prominence; nor did Steve Jobs hypnotize buyers, steering them towards the iPod.

When the iPod was released in October of 2001, it succeeded during a recession caused by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. If the current economic climate adversely affected the Zune and other consumer products, then it stands to reason that it also adversely affected iPod sales. Yet, Apple reported a growth in iPod sales for the most recent quarter, versus a 54% drop in Zune revenues. How much better would the iPod have faired this quarter without the deepening recession?

I believe that Microsoft and its investors need to re-evaluate the Zune with regard to how it affects other products, and how it affects shareholder interests. If I’m a Microsoft competitor — and I don’t believe that Apple and Microsoft compete in the sense that they appeal to very different groups of customers — then I truly hope that Microsoft continues to throw money and other resources at the Zune. Let them and their investors learn the hard way. Again.

Did you mean 'lame duck' as in it just hasn't been successful in general, or are you trying to say the product itself is no good? I've owned one for over a year now and have been really happy with it. I'm no stranger to iPods, having owned one, and at the time the specs for the Zune looked better. I haven't yet regretted the decision. I've no bias towards any particular product (whatever works best at the time is what I'll buy) and really thought the Zune deserved a little better than it got.

Probably didn't help much that Microsoft wasn't prepared to release it into more than one country. I imported mine into Australia, btw.

So you're the Zune owner? Hats off to you, sir!

Boy, have you bought into the "one size fits all" iPod mantra!

I'm getting really really sick of all the Zune bashing. The player is reliable, well-designed, easy to use and loaded with great features. Yet you media smart-mouths continue to bash it.

Take your cheque from Apple and cash it because you're obviously on their marketing payroll.

yes, Microsoft is fighting an uphill battle but there are lots of non-iPod products out there, many of them quite good including the Zune.

If Microsoft drops this product due to intense media bashing I'm going to be really pissed - I've made the investment in it and I love it. I'm sick of reading every single day what a moron I am for believing in a product that isn't an iPod.

Please cease and desist. I've had enough, and I'm sure many other readers have, too. Go focus on another issue, like whether Steve Jobs is alive or dead, the economic state of the computer industry or how cuts Bill Gates' hair. Frankly, they're far more interesting than reading the same darn Zune bashing week after week.

Oops! Your iPod's 1-year warranty just expired. Oh, and so did it's battery. What a shame! Don't remember reading much about THAT problem from you.

L. Wasser
Canada

You know, I own a Zune and frankly it's much better than the iPod classics in terms of features. The iPod Touch is a completely different animal and if I wanted a PDA, I'd buy one of those. No, I'm perfectly content with my Zune 120. It's a great product and I believe that it will one day be a major player. It might not be on top, but it will be out there in numbers.

I've had a Zune for over a year now and am supremely happy with it. I get new features for free every few months and the sound quality is really stunning. Oh and it doesnt looked scratched to hell and back either. For those really in the know the Zune is one of the very top choices for SQ. Head over to Head-Fi and the Zune gets really treated with respect there. They know.

As for sales? Well MS should start tying to market the damn thing. Its like AMD always moaning their sales arent great. But when do you ever see them advertise? Never! I see iPod and Intel ads all over the place and as a result they sell! I really do wonder what some marketing depts do with their brains when they go to work.

Oh and maybe try selling worldwide too, that would boost sales.

I think the thing to keep in mind here is that the article is specifically addressing the business side of the issue. Not whether one player is better than the other. I've never even held a Zune in my hand, so can't make a statement on the quality of the product. The question is not if the Zune is good enough to survive, it's whether it will ever be profitable enough to survive. At this point I'd say it's not looking good. Especially considering the amount of marketing muscle that MS is able to apply and yet they haven't been able to make much of a dent in the market.

Gotta remember that Capitalism cares little for what product is better, just which one gets more sales. Sometimes better and successful is the same thing, and sometimes it ain't.

One more post like that and I'll click the complain link. Where do you get off be calm and rational in this forum?

This is fairly simple in my opinion:
1) Remove the DRM infestation from the Zune. 2) Include more codec support (yes that actually means the open source kind!)3) In your music store, sell music SANS DRM and for around $0.99/track (or less if you can) 4) Include incentives for your music downloaders similar to buy 7 tracks get 1 free or maybe a point system that can be used to get free/seriously discounted Microsoft crap (or a complete CD). 5) Update your firmware regularly to remove bugs/leap year defects etc. 6) Listen to and support your customers who bought your crap! If the "world + dog" gets a clue to the fact that you actually care about your customers, we'll be there for you MS...trust us.

I've never seen the Zune in the major eletrconic shops in the UK. It's not in airport shops either. No wonder sales are down, they are not for sale!

Thanks to the comments in this thread, I've decided to get my wife a Zune for her birthday instead of an iPod or other player from Creative or iRiver or Archos or whoever. Swan song, indeed!

I have spent nearly a thousand hours listening to music and watching videos on my zune (I have a lot of free time) and it is good. I will be very disappointed if Microsoft gives up the last bastion of choice against the Ipod.

... by creating a software ecosystem that Microsoft didn't even try to pursue. The iPod touch got a halo effect from iPhone and the app store - pretty much replacing the iPod classic as the high end model - and none of the other mp3 player companies had anything to counter it.

Apple basically redefined the market on everybody.

(I have neither, btw)

Rumors abound that Xbox is also to go, as it's a large cash liability (despite making small amounts of profit for a couple of quarters), Shareholders are not happy about the accumulated losses, in the region of $9Billion, than Microsoft have swept under previous quarters earnings reports.

Sony have a nice new evolutionary platform to develop PS4 ("Cell2"), and Nintendo can't do anything wrong, Microsoft are stuck with PC-Like tech and shareholders unwilling to invest lots of money to develop the next Xbox.

DRM? There is far less DRM in the Zuneworld than the iPod world. I have a Zune with 330 albums on it and not one bit of DRM. Never come across it as far as I know and if I have its never got in my way. You havent checked the Zune Store lately? You get to keep 10 non-DRM tracks a month anyway from the all you can eat buffet. We get regular FREE firmware updates anyway. The leap year bug was in the Freescale chip and not part of MS's code. As for listening to customers, many of the new features in the updates are actually ones asked for by customers through the Zune Social.

Youve never owned a Zune have you?