“Microsoft Corp., chasing the speeding iPod train, will [ship] a lineup of its Zune hand-held music and video players next month,” Joseph Menn reports for The Los Angeles Times Staff.
“Analysts said the new Zunes, which Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates unveiled to reporters in Redmond, Wash., on Tuesday, might help the company hold on to its sliver of the market and perhaps gain some ground against fledgling entrants. But Microsoft wasn’t given much chance of taking customers from Apple Inc.,” Menn reports.
“‘They’re not going to gain against Apple because there is nothing really innovative about what they’re doing,’ said Van Baker, a vice president at Gartner Group,” Menn reports.
Menn reports, “Microsoft spokesman Chris Stephenson said the company was aiming for more than 10% of the part of the market where the smaller Zunes would compete, which is new territory for Microsoft. Overall, he said, ‘our goal is to be the main No. 2.'”
Menn reports, “‘It’s fine to say you want to be a credible alternative to Apple,’ Jupiter Research Vice President Michael Gartenberg said. ‘But the market isn’t looking for credible alternatives. People are looking for iPods.'”
Full article, which unfortunately confuses the iPod touch with the iPhone, here.
Dina Bass reports for Bloomberg, “Microsoft was the fourth-biggest seller of portable digital players in the first half with 3 percent of the market, compared with Apple’s 71 percent, according to NPD Group Inc. in Port Washington, New York. Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, sold 1.2 million Zunes between their November release and June, less than 3 percent of the iPod’s sales in the same time.”
“As for this Christmas, the new versions won’t help Microsoft gain significant ground on Apple, said Van Baker, an analyst with Gartner Inc. in San Jose, California. The current second-biggest competitor, SanDisk Corp., isn’t standing still either, he said… ‘Apple is a moving target,’ Baker said. ‘Every time someone says we can make a product that’s competitive with Apple, guess what, that product isn’t there anymore.'”
Full article here.
Microsoft already is, and will always be, No. 2.
I shit better products than Micro$oft produce.
Actually, Chip — thanks for playing, but — MS is #4 in portable media players and they won’t even get to #2 without a major fight.
At MS they don’t understand: “The best way to predict the future, is to invent it.”
Always runner-up.
@SanDisk
I think Chip was trying to say that MS is shit, aka #2.
Thanks for playing.
CJ
Did you hear the wireless syncing on the Zune still requires it to be connected to and AC power cord.
So, wireless syncing still requires a cord -LOL
Even with some new ideas they can’t implement it properly.
You can’t deny it, but if it wasn’t for Apple, they’d be no such thing as an MP3 players & we’d still be using beige boxes with DOS.
Ode to Microsoft
Why was it born so useless?
Why was it born at all?
It’s no fucking use to anyone.
It’s no fucking use at all.
At least the new Zunes don’t come in turd brown like the old ones.
But the part that disgusts me is that an M$ spokesperson said that they want to steal market share from their own PlaysForSure partners… basically, they’re eating their own children. Already, #2 SanDisk is pushing Rhapsody (which uses a Real DRM) over PlaysForSure, and I’ll be interested to see what #3 Creative Labs does in response to the M$ announcement.
And, of course, during all this instability in Redmond, Apple will remain king.
MDN MW: “hot”, as in “iPods will remain the hot gift this Christmas”
Judging from the the latest Zune offerings–it’s seems that MS really isn’t ‘in it to win it’. Seriously, it looks like they didn’t even try to make an attractive product. Looks like a tax write-off to me.
Actually, SanDisk— thanks for playing, but — Chip wasn’t referring to the portable media player market when he was speaking of Microsoft.
“Analysts: Microsoft’s latest Zunes show no innovation, won’t threaten Apple at all.”
Why Hell no!
Like I said yesterday, “More Zune junk doomed to fail.”
Nobody buys that crap but fools or losers.
“At least the new Zunes don’t come in turd brown like the old ones.”
Yeah, but they have one in “puke green” now!
The Zune would have died…
Except the media and MDN keep it alive with free advertising.
“Oh poor Zune, it’s the underdog against the evil Apple, lets buy one and we won’t get robbed for our iPods.”
Microsoft: Your penetration is our passion.
Did anyone see the article this morning with Ballmer quoting a 10% market share? What a joker!
Here’s Ballmer’s quote:
“We’re going up against a company that does very good work – I gotta give Apple its due,” he said. “But we went into that market and got a market share of some 10%.”
They won’t get anywhere if their goal is 2nd place. They would get more work done if they motivate they employees to make it to 1st place. Reaching 2nd places implies that the product doesn’t have to be as good as the iPod.
A month or two after launch Ballmer was saying he thought Zune had grabbed a 20% market share. At least this time he a bit nearer the right figure…
But he needs to recognize the word sold…ie not give away as freebies by Microsoft…(to be binned the nest day).
I don’t know why, but there always seems to be a market for people that just “hate” whoever . These people will pay more money for less product and be quite happy about it.
I asked my son (11th grade) what was the take in high school? He said that if don’t have an iPod, you havent got shit. His words.
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weird hah?
en
M$ doesn’t want or need to release innovative product.
They will flood the market with cheap turds that non-educated consumers will buy because of the M$ name.
And slowly, M$ will gain some ground, just enough to start introducing their incompatible standards.
How the hell did Microsoft manage to sell 1.2+ million Zunes? Are there that many people with a scheisse fetish? More importantly, how many of them were returned and not exchanged for another Zune? Seems to me that these are things which ought to be addressed.
MS standard modus operandi is:
Embrace, Exend, Extinguish
Well, here’s a case where they can’t Embrace (AAC), they can’t Extend features of the iPod since they can’t keep up with the innovation, and, ergo, no Extinguish is on any horizon…
They did not “sell” the Zunes, they moved them into the channels; i.e., a ton of those Zunes are sitting in retail inventory waiting to go the remaindered bins.
Exactly; the careful wording of Microsoft’s statement (million Zunes shipped; not sold) reveals the significant difference.
As for Ballmer’s 10% market share quote, he was referring to the marketshare of hard disk -based MP3 players selling for under $239. Since that obviously excludes all HD-based iPods (as well as a big subset of Creative product line), there is a chance in hell that one out of ten devices in that extremely narrow category was a Zune. If he tried hard, he could have narrowed it down even further and made it even bigger percentage.
The new Shit Bricks are out already?
WOW
M$$$ willing to settle for #2… THAT REALLY SAD!
iT SPEAKS VOLUMES about their marketing group… and THE GENERAL state THAT M$$$ is really in… I’ve never hear of a sales group that’s will to settle for second best…
M$$$ is truely in a downward spin… all that they have in theire future is DOOM!
This is quite funny, because these new zunes show Microsoft in its true light, a dinosaur that cannot innovate.
There isnt one original or new idea that have ever come out of Redmond – and never will be.
Any decent ideas that have have been from companies creating those ideas when Microsoft bought them and then strangled the creativity out of them.
Microsoft is not the company that changes society through innovation – Apple is. They are purely a company that photocopies other peoples ideas.
They sold 1.2 million Zunes into the retail channel. Not to customers they then offered the channel rebates and spiffs to move them. Tech Data sent thousands to the electronic recycling after MS basically paid them to giving them away to their customers. A returned Freebie is bad news. Tens of thousands basically when into to desks and cabinets unopened. Many more were bought at a big discount by parents looking to save some cash for presents for kids who had asked for iPods. After all Zunes are to iPods like Twonkies were to Twinkies.
The problem of MS is, their goal is “market share”.
I can’t remember Jobs introducing the first iPod with “We hope to achieve a market share of >50% with this device.” Instead, he went like “Look at this cool little gadget, imagine listening to your music on this baby.”
At Apple, they cherish their products. At MS, they love sales numbers; the products are just red-headed stepchildren.
@ Demon
kind of the same but left a bad taste in your mouth!
[removed]void(0);
wink
Two points:
The ONLY reason that they are giving a free update to Zune 30 and original Zune customers is because there are 900,000 “sold” Zunes on shelves across the US that would never sell unless they did.
The Zune WILL wirelessly sync without pluggin it in, but you have to manually do the sync. Which begs the question, if I have to go turn my computer on, then manually start a wireless sync, why not just plug the damned thing in?
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/corporatenews/2007-10-03-bill-gates_N.htm
REDMOND, Wash. — Eight months from quitting his day job to focus on philanthropy, Microsoft (MSFT) Chairman Bill Gates remains enthusiastically engaged in promoting the software giant’s many new business initiatives. Gates is doing all he can to help Microsoft secure a foothold in digital entertainment, mobile devices and new Internet services, such as IP telephony and IPTV. He sat down this week with USA TODAY reporter Byron Acohido to explain why.
Q: What’s the coolest thing about the upgraded Zune?
A: Look at this thing! (Holds up a Zune 8) Three or four years ago there was nothing like this. This is cool as heck. I’m finding music I haven’t seen in 20 years. Hey, the Lovin’ Spoonful? They’re in this thing. I find one of their songs. I send it to friends I had an apartment with, it was actually 30 years ago. I can send it out to them and say, “Remember when we listened to this?” It’s amazing.
Agree, Zune is nothing innovative about it. I have to laugh at some of the comments at “zunescene.com” regarding the screen size. They are excited that its huge, yet fail to realize that its still 320×240 stretched. I don’t even think they realize that the iPods pixel density is double than these players. iPhone and iPod Touch have 163 ppi. 480×320! Yet these Zune users are excited to have Zune stretched resolution? LOL
@ Zuney Tunes:
Thanks for sharing; that is really sad!
Dear Child
You’ve been very, very, very bad this year.
“Nasty”, “naughty”, and “unkind” do not begin to do you justice.
A lump of coal would be too good.
This year, to teach you a lesson, I’m leaving a Zune in your stocking.
I know your behaviour will improve next year.
Sincerely,
– Santa
“our goal is to be the main No. 2.”
Doesn’t that just say it all about Microsoft? Don’t try to create a great product on its own merits that people will want, heavens no. Just make a solid #2 product. Take someone else’s form factor and throw all your own cheese inside and carp on and on about you feature list. And then you have a solid “No. 2” Dare to frikkin dream, you visionaries.
-c
MW: ‘shot’ (heard round the bathroom)
I had a solid number 2.
Once.
“Did you hear the wireless syncing on the Zune still requires it to be connected to and AC power cord.”
Actually, that’s not true. Funny, but untrue.
You can sync the Zune without having it plugged in. You go to the Zune and hit the “Sync Now” button and it will find your computer via WiFi and sync with it.
When you plug in the Zune, it will automatically try to sync with your computer (as though you’d hit the “Sync Now” button).
So if you come home and plug in your Zune then go to your computer and download some songs, they’ll automatically end up on your Zune (which is actually pretty slick). However, if you don’t plug in your Zune, they won’t until you press the “Sync Now” button on your Zune.
Yeah, I know. The truth is nowhere near as entertaining as the story.
wow! you guys are really insightful. you should all work for MSM selling your viewpoints about technology and trends. Oh, I forgot… you have to be in elementary school during work hours.
SHEEESH…, what a load of koolaid inspired anti microsoft hatred! Does it stem from insecurity? Do a test, just substitute operating system market share for MP3 players in all your comments and you see how smart your comments look… all of a sudden apple osX looks like the shit…. always number 2 and stuff like that… except in that domain another MS OS is #2… and #3 probably.
Get a life… is it only possible to enjoy the quality stuff you have by abusing the other options?
Cheers!
…and really the only thing more pathetic than all this MS hatred is someone who trolls it for insults.
Oops.
Actually, our hatred of MS is not because of the Kool-Aid, it’s just fun to bash them, and MDN is a haven for MS bashers.
Welcome to the Anti-Social
ummm…you guys are sad. Listen to yourselves…lol. Wow.
if someone screws you, you are allowed to bash them…
I have only seen one Zune in the wild. I have seen more people with portable CD players in that same time period. Who are these 1.2 million fools and where are they?
@larre
“if someone screws you, you are allowed to bash them…”
Well, that DOES describe about half of my sex life.
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
THE iPod KILLER HAS ARRIVED! Zune 2 is here! Squirt me baby! Better yet let me squirt you!
All of the Zune’s critics are silent in the face of our new software and models!
Nobody has anything that comes even remotely close to the “Squircle”. If Apple tries to copy this we will sue the living daylights out of them and cancel Office ’08 completely!
See all of the details at ZuneScene!
Tell ’em Steve sent ‘cha!
Nothing exposes MS’s moribund business model quite like Zune… While Apple rockets ahead with exciting new technology (iPhone, Touch iPod), huge glacial bureaucracies at MS take years to come up with a bad copy of _old_ technologies.
Just look at eBay to see how long the Chinese take to come up with iPod clones (weeks), and it shows what a joke MS is. China has overtaken the MS business model (ie, let someone else come up with the idea, then copy it), and MS has nowhere to go. Hilarious, unless you own shares in this dinosaur.
I just love these ANAL things. Every time they ANAL something I earn ANALY another $20*7000*X*Z
Suddenly AAPL follows the € instead of the fucked up $
“MS take years to come up with a bad copy of _old_ technologies. “
Except that the new Zune is a better hard disk based player than the iPod classic. If Apple had an hard disk based or higher capacity iPod Touch I could agree with you. But the iPod classic is getting a bit long in the tooth, not much innovation there in the last 6 years.
“I just love these ANAL things.”
Typical comment for a Swedish Pillow Biter.
If M$ shipped LESS than 3 percent of Apple’s iPod sales, and Apple has 71 percent then mathematically speaking M$ cannot possible have 3 percent of the total market.
Duhhhh!
ZDNet has been asking the question, “Are Mac users and Apple smug and arrogant?” The answer has come back a clear “yes”. If it didn’t, all they’d need to do is read the comments here. Look at yourselves, Mac fans… Most of you aren’t content with the fact that Microsoft’s not making a big dent in iPod sales, you have to call their products “sh*t”, claim they’re “#2 in everything”, that Apple somehow “invented” the idea of the MP3 player, etc. Does that make you feel better about buying an expensive Mac, iPhone, and/or iPod? Are you proud of the image people get of Mac fans from the comments shown here? If I replaced “Microsoft”, “Zune”, and “Windows” with “Apple”, “iPod”, and “OS X” would tell me I was being childish, arrogant, and immature?
It may surprise you to know that there are people out there who actually PREFER a Zune, a Sandisk, a Creative, or a “generic” player over the iPod. It would probably also shock you to realize they have good reasons for doing that.
Mac fans like to equate their products to a Mercedes and everyone else’s to some other brand. In some ways, that’s a good analogy. For example, just as a Mercedes coupe isn’t a good choice for every automotive need (e.g., you wouldn’t haul a load of refrigerators to a warehouse with one), not everyone needs or wants what the iPod (or iPhone) is offering. Just as a Mercedes driver wouldn’t laugh at an appliance delivery person for showing up in a big truck, an iPod user shouldn’t assume that only the iPod meets everyone’s needs.
I’ve noticed that those who “prefer” the iPod tend to own more than one iPod, while those who don’t own an iPod tend to have at most 1-2 media players (usually a flash-based one for when they are being “active” and a hard drive based player for when they’re sitting around). It would probably be enlightening to do a poll of users and count only the one player they most often listen to rather than all the players they own. I suspect that Apple’s share of the “market” would drop considerably in such a poll (though I’ll concede that it will probably still be the “top” share) because Apple fans tend to hunger for the latest gizmo out of Cupertino even if their current one is serving them just fine. Two good examples are Wil Shipley and Steve Wozniak. Between them, they claimed to have purchased close to 40 iPhones that they are still holding on to. What does that mean for the iPhone’s market share to have about 38 iPhones sitting there not being used?
There are those who, while objecting to (and offended by) the arrogance of the Mac community, try to provide a more critical view of what’s going on in the Mac and Apple worlds. While they take Apple and its products to task for their shortcomings, acknowledge that Apple does have the right products for some uses and some people. They just refuse to buy the Apple Party line that Apple products are the only ones anyone ever needs, because they know better.