A new survey conducted by ABI Research has shown that many prospective MP3 player buyers—even owners of iPods—would be likely to choose Microsoft’s Zune player. 1725 teenage and adult US residents were asked whether they planned to buy an MP3 player in the next 12 months. Of those responding that they were likely to do so, 58% of those identifying themselves as existing iPod owners and 59% of those who owned other brands said they would be “somewhat likely” or “extremely likely” to choose a Microsoft Zune player over an iPod or another brand of MP3 player.
“Our conclusion,” says principal analyst Steve Wilson, “is that iPod users don’t display the same passionate loyalty to iPods that Macintosh users have historically shown for their Apple products.” Only 15% of iPod owners said they were “not very likely” or “not at all likely” to choose Zune.
So is Zune attractive enough to build anything like iPod’s massive sales record? ABI Research believes that a critical factor will be whether or not Microsoft can differentiate the Zune from competing products in some meaningful way. One differentiator, Zune’s Wi-Fi peer-to-peer sharing, which Microsoft is playing up heavily, “isn’t all that compelling, at least not now,” notes Wilson. “There’s a lot more you could do with that capability.”
But given the results of ABI Research’s survey, Apple will need to make some big announcements in 2007 if it is to maintain its edge in the industry. Says Wilson, “Apple needs a new high-end device that works really well and looks really cool, because other brands are catching up.”
The survey results are contained in ABI Research’s study, “Microsoft’s Zune”, which explores what Zune’s new features, connectivity with Xbox, and Zune Marketplace mean for Apple, for Rhapsody, or for the PlaysForSure program. It forms part of the Consumer Electronic Research Service, which also includes Research Reports, Research Briefs, Market Data, ABI Insights, and analyst inquiry support.
Methodology: data contained within this report is derived from a Web-based survey among a nationally-balanced and demographically-representative sample of 1,725 online consumers (age 18 and older). The consumer survey was conducted in October 2006. Respondents were provided a photo and description of the Microsoft Zune device before being asked about their likelihood to choose it over a competitive MP3 player.
Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains global operations supporting annual research programs, intelligence services and market reports in broadband and multimedia, RFID & contactless, M2M, wireless connectivity, mobile wireless, transportation, and emerging technologies. For information visit: http://www.abiresearch.com
“Respondents were provided a photo and description of the Microsoft Zune device before being asked about their likelihood to choose it over a competitive MP3 player.” Was the photo of the Zune shown next to an iPod or the iPod family? What exactly was the description of the Zune provided in the survey?
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I also considered buying a Zune. For about 1 nanosecond.
i don’t care about those.
i ordered my iPod shuffle today. and i already have a 40GB one.
As an iPod owner, (20GB 3rd Gen, 4GB 1st Gen Nano) I find this study very hard to believe. I don’t see any features of the Zune that would convince me to buy it instead of the current 30Gb iPod.
Did they only question people in some sort of mental health facility?
read the fine print. they polled republicans.
I’ve taken a survey like this and the questions are often loaded. It could say something like: “Would you like a player that wirelessly shares music with your friends?” without explaining the zune’s limitations.
That’s crap. iPod related or not, it’s quite obvious that being explicitly shown something and having it described to you is going to put that product in your mind. What would the percentages be if they just used the description “portable music player”? I bet the vast majority would say iPod, for most people that’s all they know. Of course, once Zune advertising kicks in who is to say that they can’t raise awareness? Maybe they will sell, but the way they went about that seems flawed.
The problem with these studies is that they assume Apple is standing still and resting on its laurels. With Jobs at the helm, that is hardly the case.
oh that figures.:
“read the fine print. they polled republicans.”
why must you show your idiocy.
No, they polled people who, considering it’s a non-shipping product, have no clue what they’re talking about, to put it kindly.
Even though you like the chicken burrito, would you consider trying a steak burrito on your next purchase?
The question might have been:
Q1. Mobile phones can play MP3s, along with iPods and Zunes. Do you plan to buy an MP3 player other than iPod in the next year?
It seems to be a manipulative survey by pooling Zunes with all other MP3 players. Ask people honestly “Do you plan to buy a Zune?”. If they don’t ask honestly, I must assume the survey is being paid for and therefore not worthy of trust.
Competitors must be much better, cheaper or redefine the game. This is why Macintoshes are beating PCs in growth and the same goes for any other product. iPods are better, not cheaper, but redefine our uses of music-PDAs.
The 58% who were seriously considering buying Zune instead of iPod were
a) over 30
b) not iPod owners
c) not Mac owners
That was not a multiple choice, by the way, unless the answer was “d) all the above”. I may be over 30 – twice – and not particularly dedicated to “cool”, but I know second-rate when I see it. Zune barely qualifies for that rating.
It’s interesting how they have to parse the market on these things. The Zune can’t compete with the nano or the shuffle, and these make up the bulk of iPod sales, don’t they? So … they only asked about Zune vs 80GB iPod?
Someone should sue them for misrepresenting the significance of their results.
MW = program – what they should “get with”
dogfriend
They conducted the survey from the readership of such apple hate sites as ipodsucks macsucks and dieappledie
Kinda pathetic that only 58% of the sight members would consider switching. I thought the number would be much higher
Balanced like MSNBC is. Uh huh.
This data is completely meaningless unless we know if they would consider any other MP3 player as well. If 50-some-odd percent said they would be ‘somewhat likely’ to consider a Sansa, for example, then we could draw some conclusions, because we know how many people actually *buy* them. We don’t know how many people will actually buy a Zune because they haven’t sold a single one of ’em yet.
-c
MW: “their” (means something belonging to ‘them’. ‘They’re’ is a contraction of ‘they are’. This is something that is no longer taught in school.)
Oh wow… this is another one of those deals where you can play with facts to say anything……
“58% of iPod owners planning another MP3 purchase will consider Zune”
There could be a LOT of lies in that title…. such as… 58% of all iPod owners that were planning to replace their iPod with some different MP3… but not telling you that only .0001% of iPod owners actually want to replace their iPod with some other MP3…. 58% of .0001% is like 10 people :o) (or should I call them idiots)
“Apple needs a new high-end device that works really well and looks really cool, because other brands are catching up.”
Uh, Apple already has one of those. While I do believe that Apple needs to keep evolving the iPod line with occassional significant additions, they do not need a new iPod line on top of the current one. At least this person knows that the ease of use is a parameter that is important here.
Note: I believe the iPhone is separate line, even if it has a music player functionality. I suppose that this could be a top end device if they go for 40-80 GB, but I suspect it will be flash based for size considerations. Therefore, I believe it is a distinct line.
This is a text book example of how to effectively poll lemmings.
“Considering” and buying are not the same thing. Each of the two times I bought an iPod, I considered other options. I still bought the iPod.
Well, of course you might consider it, same as you might consider options for lunch.
Doesn’t mean a thing.
I like how “somewhat likely” users and “extremely likely” users are lumped together to get one big number. The break down has to be skewed heavily toward the “somewhat likely” crowd for them to do that – otherwise “extremely likely” users would be mentioned first or by themselves. I laugh at your statistics. Ha!
I have two iPods, and would consider replacing them with another type of mp3 player… an iPhone!
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This survey proves that if you have enough money, you can buy virtually any result you want.
Note to Microsoft – Buying wierd pole results will just set you up for a major let down when the real sales figures roll in. Don’t worry though, just look at the inflated sales figures that you will be releasing to the press. They will make you feel happy again.
“Lies, damn lies, and statistics” Sufficiently motivated, I can structure a survey that will say whatever I want it to say. Expect Microsoft to run a massive marketing campaign to drive interest in Zune. Those with no previous exposure to a portable player done right (i.e. iPod) will suffer its flaws and limitations thinking that’s how it is (kinda’ like Windows users). Those with iPod experience will not move to Zune. No how, no way.
Everybody post your best guess. How long untill the first virus appears on the Zune? I am talking about the Zune being infected by a virus not being used to carry one.