Zune to sell one million by June
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Microsoft MP3 player exceeds expectations Microsoft expects sales of the Zune to hit the one million milestone by the end of June, almost eight months after the product made its debut. Apple on the other hand has sold 100 million of the music players since its launch in October 2001.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - Financial analysts watching the consumer electronics space report that early sales of Microsoft Corp.'s Zune player should give little reason for iPod loyalists and Apple Computer Inc. to fear this holiday season. Since its retail debut on Nov. 15, customer interest in Zune has been lackluster, analysts report. Early reviews of the product have been less than stellar as well. According to a research note published Tuesday by PiperJaffray senior research analyst Gene Munster, only 8 percent of 40 retailers surveyed by the firm recommend the Zune to customers, while 75 percent recommend Apple's iPod. Moreover, some MP3 salespeople hadn't even heard of Zune, even though the players are being sold at their stores, he wrote in his report. Quotes from retail clerks cited in Munster's report range from them claiming they don't know what the Zune is, to comments that Zune is a good option if a customer does not use Apple's iTunes software. "To be honest, I don't really know much about the Zune," one clerk is quoted as saying in Munster's report. Another said, "I don't suggest the Zune because it is really heavy," according to the report. Zune also did not fair well against other MP3 players and Apple's iPod even during its initial week of sales, when the hype surrounding the product was at its peak. According to Munster's report, during its launch week on Nov. 16, Zune held the seventh spot on online retailer Amazon.com's top 10 best-selling MP3 players list, and it fell from that spot to 13 on the list only five days after launch, on Nov. 20. "The buzz that Microsoft was able to generate for the Zune's launch clearly helped the player in its first week, but much of the publicity took the form of Zune/iPod comparisons," Munster wrote. He added that these comparisons show that Zune "failed to match up in the eyes of most reviewers" to the iPod, a fact that negatively affected sales of the device. Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore wrote Monday that the iPod continues to be a strong seller going into the busy holiday shopping season, and the 30G-byte video iPods -- with which Zune competes -- "appear to be immune to the Zune." He said both the 30G-byte video iPods and the new 4G-byte iPods nanos currently are popular with consumers. A note about Apple's performance from financial firm UBS IT hardware analyst Ben Reitzes also said that Zune does not appear to be any threat to iPod at this time. To be fair, Apple has a five-year head start in the music and video player market, and no one expected Microsoft's first entry would be comparable right away to the immensely popular iPod. Microsoft has said it plans to invest significantly in the Zune over the next several years, and the device is expected to become more competitive. Microsoft's 30G-byte Zune costs US$249.99, the same as Apple's video iPod, but is different from the iPod in two key ways. Zune includes an FM tuner and wireless capability that allows users to share songs between devices.
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The software maker won't replace tracks bought on iTunes as rumors suggested, but the Zune will come in a unique color.
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(InfoWorld) - On the day Apple revealed its first Wi-Fi-enabled, touchscreen iPod, Microsoft's rival to Apple's wildly popular multimedia player got a little less expensive. The Zune device from Microsoft now costs $199, $50 less than its original price tag. Microsoft announced the price cut on its Zune Insider blog on Tuesday, a day before Apple was rumored to beÂ introducing new iPod modelsÂ at an event in San Francisco, which the company did indeed do. Naturally, Microsoft did not mention Zune's archrival in its blog post, saying that the price cut had been in the works for some time. "Itâs part of the normal product lifecycle, something weâve had on the books for months," according to the blog post. "We just got some research back and customer satisfaction with the 30GB device is really high (around 94 percent), and we expect even more consumers will now want to discover the Zune experience at the new lower price." With the new iPods introduced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in San Francisco on Wednesday, that prediction doesn't seem too likely. The new iPod Touch that Jobs unveiled is the first iPod with Wi-Fi capability, one of the differentiators between the current iPod lines and the Zune device, which was launched with Wi-Fi last November. iPod Touch also is similar in look and feel to theÂ recently launched Apple iPhone, and features touchscreen controls that are making Apple's phone/multimedia device combination a hit with customers. In other bad news for Zune, Apple on Wednesday also has cut the price on its 80GB iPod from $349 to $249, which makes it only a fraction less expensive than the 30GB Zune. It also has introduced a 160GB iPod for $349. According to Jobs, Apple has sold 110 million iPods to date. There are rumors that, to compete more aggressively with Apple, Microsoft will introduce new Zune devices by the holidays with new features and form factors, but so far the company has declined to divulge specific details. There have also been hints from executives that an iPhone rival is in the works. Microsoft has said from the beginning that Zune is a long-term investment, and expects it will take some time before the device will be a worthy competitor to iPod, which has a five-year head start and Apple's brand power behind it.
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Zune is singing a new tune these days. A Microsoft executive has announced that over one million units of its music player have shipped. As the Zune has been out about nine months, that puts the Redmond, Washington-based company ahead of its previously announced plan to sell one million in a year.
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By Byron Acohido  SEATTLE -- In a bold strategic overhaul, Microsoft on Thursday confirmed that it will launch Zune and Zune MarketPlace this fall in hopes of playing catch-up to Apple in the fast-emerging digital entertainment market.
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Microsoft Corp.'s Zune music player looks a lot like an iPod, acts a lot like an iPod and will cost about the same as an iPod. The software giant said Thursday that it will charge $249.99 for the device, signaling that it isn't planning to spark a major price war to gain market share.
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The game is now expected to hit the stores sometime in the first week of June, due to an "obscure content error," Microsoft says.
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Company claims one million songs sold since prices were cut.
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Zune digital media player and online music and multimedia store coming soon, software giant says.
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Microsoft has beaten its goal of shipping over a million Zune digital music players by June.
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In what a Microsoft executive claims is a good but not overwhelming start, the company says it will have sold 1 million Zune media players by the end of June.
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newsmaker There's still a lot Microsoft wants to do with Windows, and it has its work cut out with Zune,  CEO says.
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Microsoft Corp.  sees expanding  the digital music market -- and not necessarily video -- as the  priority for its new "Zune" portable media player, a company  executive said on Thursday.
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Microsoft has cut the price of its Zune music player by $50 even as Apple launches new, improved iPods that now offer Wi-Fi connectivity and touch screens.
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Microsoft's Zune music player, a rival to Apple's iPod, goes on sale in the US, receiving mixed reviews.
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It's not just about Apple's music players. Microsoft's Zune player also got a little less expensive today.