“You have to hand it to Microsoft. The company knows how to create a buzz about a product. From all the noise about Zune, you would think the ‘iPod killer’ actually has a chance. Sadly for Microsoft, it won’t happen,” Stan Beer writes for iTWire.
“People point to Microsoft’s Xbox and Xbox 360 as proof that the company can successfully play in the hardware space. The question they need to consider, however, is how much money has Microsoft made from Xbox? The answer isn’t pretty,” Beer writes.
“Apple has always been a hardware and software company. Its entire history has consisted of a business model constructed around selling hardware and software in tightly bound packages. This is iPod and iTunes, Mac and Mac OSX. For Apple, it works spectacularly well,” Beer writes. “Microsoft is a pure software company. Its entire history has been built around selling software. It can’t make money doing anything else – not even on the internet.”
Beer writes, “The problem for Microsoft [is that] operating systems and office productivity software are gradually becoming obsolete commodities. Microsoft needs to find new areas in which to grow. That’s why we see Microsoft attempting a project like Zune. It’s a shot in the dark and it’s doomed to fail.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Steve J.” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Mmmm… Beer gets it. BTW, if Microsoft’s intention was to throw the media off the Macintosh story with this “Zune” nonsense, it’s working pretty well, so far.
Related articles:
Bear Stearns analyst expects Apple to respond to Microsoft’s ‘challenge’ with new iPod innovations – July 24, 2006
Microsoft Zune? They should’ve called it the Microsoft ‘iClod’ – July 24, 2006
Enderle: Microsoft’s ‘iPod killer’ Zune is ‘brilliant strategy’ – July 24, 2006
Microsoft’s so-called ‘iPod killer’ Zune won’t zoom up the charts – July 23, 2006
Microsoft confirms ‘iPod Killer’ plans – July 21, 2006
Microsoft’s rumored ‘iPod killer’ poses little threat to Apple’s domination – July 18, 2006
Microsoft plans Super Bowl ad for ‘iPod killer’ – July 17, 2006
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Microsoft preps complete line of Xbox-branded digital-media products – July 11, 2006
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10 reasons why Microsoft’s ‘iPod killer’ will fail – July 11, 2006
Enderle on what it would take for Microsoft to kill Apple’s iPod – July 10, 2006
Microsoft: ‘iPod killer’ reports based on ‘speculation and rumors’ – July 07, 2006
Can Microsoft hit a fast moving target? Apple likely to debut wireless iPod this year – July 07, 2006
Analysts: Microsoft faces uphill fight to supplant Apple’s iPod+iTunes market dominance – July 07, 2006
Microsoft plans to convert iPod users by replacing iTMS songs with free WMA format songs – July 06, 2006
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Microsoft preps iPod+iTunes killer – June 19, 2006
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Patent application shows iPod capable of live wireless video conferencing – June 13, 2006
Apple patent application filed for wireless iPod+iTunes distribution – May 04, 2006
Generator Research: Apple to Ship $4.2bn in Wireless iPods (WiPods) by 2010 – March 14, 2006
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More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: Thomson gives up on MP3 player, CE markets – December 12, 2005
More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: BenQ withdraws from MP3 player markets – November 28, 2005
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More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: Rio is dead – August 26, 2005
Apple’s iPod has blood on its Click Wheel: Virgin Electronics is dead – March 08, 2005
Apple’s iTunes Music Store has blood on its play button: BuyMusic.com is dead – March 28, 2004
I don’t know if zume will fail but I suspect that there will be a lot of switchers that we will be hearing about.
At the moment, Apple have sold over 58 million iPods.
By the time Zune gets into the public consciousness and is shipping, Apple will have sold another 25 million (nine this quarter, sixteen in the holiday quarter) so we’ll be over the 80 million mark, with some 62 million units less than 18 months old.
In order for Zune to succeed or rather not be considered a failure, Microsoft have to achieve 20% market share in around 18 months. That means they need to be selling around 3 million units in the quarter ending June 30, 2008. Six quarters to get to three million units when you have no pedigree and a product that – as far as we can tell – has no crushing USP and is more expensive than the incumbent market leader seems to be a reach.
Even closer, the holiday quarter in 2007 will be a crucial waypoint for Zune. Conventional wisdom would suggest that Apple will probably sell around 20 million units in that quarter and Zune should be aiming for around 2.5 million units just to be relevant. It took Apple three years to get to those volumes in a market with no clear leader and a massive latent demand. Microsoft will have to achieve it in spite of Apple, and with an “uncool” image and an overpriced product.
This could well turn out to be a bridge too far for Microsoft: if Vista slips and/or market take up is disappointing, that’s going to be difficult enough. But if you add in the potential for Zune to fail and questions about Microsoft’s leadership are inevitable.
To RON:
Lovely troll, i thoroughly enjoyed that!
Back to your cave now…
Ron:
¡darme más plátanos! Tu padre es el mono Steve Ballmer.
This actually works two ways for Microsoft.
On the one hand, they now have a ready-made excuse for the stockholders: “We couldn’t get Vista out as scheduled because we were trying to enter the market with Zune.”
And, “We couldn’t get Zune out in time for the holiday buying season because we were trying *so hard* to finish Vista!”
See how one hand washes the other? Hey, that doesn’t look like a bar of soap to me…
When will it arrive?
Zune real Zune
Gaming consoles are sold at a loss on purpose. To somehow predict how well a portable music player will sell based on how a gaming console sells is absurd. This thing may be a hit or a bomb, but it sure looks smells like a typical FUD argument.
Microsoft fanboys have true illusions, lets simply talk about Microsofts money issue. They have BILLIONS TO THROW AWAY ! What this means is they don’t compete on quality, they simply buy their way in. Example, if Bill Gates personally gave every Microsoft fanboys wife, more and more money until she stripped for him . . . well you get the point. No matter how much you claim your wife would ‘never’ do it, by the time Gates offered your wife $10 million to get butt naked, 99% if not 100% would, because money talks. You may then be disgusted with her, but guess what, she may want you to move out also. Does this make Gates a better man ? Hell, he doesn’t even love her, but PRACTICALLY everything/ everyone has a price. This is Microsofts basic ‘business strategy’, not really to profit, or build qualty products, but spend all their money until you have control. Luckily for them, the masses are easily deceived. Just like the Bell curve, a few people don’t know why they’d ever need a computer, the largest portion of sheep use an inferior Windows PC because it’s cheap, and everyone else has one too, and at the top, another small portion of very intelligent users who figure only a rich nerd with glasses would even attempt to buy their way in to hanging out with the cool kids & “Life’s too short, get a Mac”
I think that “Ron” was trying to tell us that he opened his mouth and shit came out – he made a poopy.
I can smell it through my MacBook Pro 17″ that contains the beautiful – and productive – OS X 10.4.7