“Microsoft’s attack on the Apple iPod began with a whimper Tuesday as Zune players made a lackluster debut in US stores,” Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
AFP reports, “Two boxed Zune players sat ignored on the top shelf of a Plexiglas showcase packed with iPod accessories in a Virgin Megastore near Union Square in San Francisco’s popular shopping district. ‘I didn’t even know they were there until a customer pointed them out,’ said sales clerk Jake Brooks. ‘I’m sure we have more in a closet in the back somewhere.'”
“By mid-afternoon the store had sold one Zune player and one other person had inquired about them,” AFP reports. “The scene was bleaker at a CompUSA store a block away, where the manager said that an oversight by Microsoft sales people had resulted in the store not getting Zunes for display. No apparent harm was done though, said the manager, because no shoppers came asking about Zunes.”
“Apple has sold nearly 70 million iPods since introducing them in 2001 and the devices command about 75 percent of the global MP3 player market,” AFP reports. “Apple’s online iTunes store sells digital music, podcasts, video, and films [with music library of over 3.5 million songs]. Microsoft’s online Zune Marketplace sells only music for the devices [with a library of about 2 million songs].”
Full article here.
Reuters reports, “Donna Murphy is no fan of the ubiquitous iPod music player so on Tuesday she became one of the first to buy Microsoft’s new rival Zune device. ‘I just needed a new MP3 player to play my music and watch videos,’ said Murphy, who bought a Zune at Best Buy’s midtown Manhattan store. ‘I’m not an Apple fan, not an iPod fan. So I wanted to try something different.'”
“But initial shopper interest suggested the Zune media player—heavily promoted in gadget reviews and television talk shows—was in for a slow building process,” Reuters reports. “An employee at the Best Buy store said two shoppers entered the place as it opened and purchased Zune players, and that about 20 were sold within the first three hours.”
“At the Virgin Megastore in New York’s Times Square two circular displays sporting Zune players with earphones attached were unmanned that morning, save for store employees restocking supplies,” Reuters reports.
Full article here.
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