“Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer Thursday said the company aims to grow its Zune digital music service and devices, hoping to take market share from Apple Inc’s iPod,” Hans Schoemaker reports for Dow Jones.
“‘We’re going to push our music service and move forward with the devices,’ Ballmer said at an event in Zurich,” Schoemaker reports. “‘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%,'”
“Microsoft said it sold over 1.2 million Zunes since last year, compared with sales of 41.4 million iPods from Oct. 2006 to June 2007, according to Apple figures,” Schoemaker reports.
Full article here.
Ballmer must be using Excel to calculate Zune’s market share. Or he’s lying, stupid, or both. 1.2M is 2.9% of 41.4M. 2.9%. And that’s assigning Apple’s share 100% of the market. Give Apple the 70% of the market it actually owns and the entire market (comprised of SanDisk, Sony, Creative, Samsung, and all of the other iPod also rans, er… killers) totals around 59M. 1.2M is 2.03%. That’s Microsoft’s market share.
Ballmer, of course, is repeating his “lie of omission.” He’s talking about hard drive-based portable media player market share – without mentioning that distinction, of course. The only problem with that – besides not implicitly stating that you’re talking about a subset of the market – is that it’s a fictitious, made-up, fantasy number since Apple, the dominant market force, does not break out hard drive sales from flash-based iPods for competitive reasons. In other words, nobody besides Apple CEO Steve Jobs really knows the number of hard drive-based players sold, so Microsoft is just using “10%” as a guesstimate; probably one that conveniently misses on the extreme high-side, of course. Unless you think that only 12M hard-drive based portable media players were sold in total since October 2, 2007, when the Zune began its quest to gather dust on Costco shelves. (Zune has 10% of the narrowly-defined “U.S. 30GB hard drive-based player market,” perhaps?)
Does having 2% market share of the iPod market give Microsoft license to lie about and inflate their market share? Does having 2% market share somehow turn what are supposed to be journalists into complacent repeaters of a lie that’s easily disproved using basic math?
Einstein looked an asshole, had B.O., and wasn’t very smart.
Ballmers lies are about the same as if Ferrari stated it had 75% of the car market. It probably does-for exotics costing $150,000+. A statement knowingly intended to deceive is a lie, period.
Ok, kids, settle down.
I’m as much an Apple fan as anyone, but after a couple decades of “market share denial” re: Mac vs. Windows, I think we can give this non-news item a rest. Does anyone really believe that the Zune is a real threat to the iPod?
Unless it’s just to rip on Ballmer, who is an idjit. Carry on!
Remember, MS only states number of units “shipped”, not actually sold to consumers.
“Einstein looked an asshole, had B.O., and wasn’t very smart.”
Einstein was considered a catch in his earlier years, was German, and was way smarter than rumours by dumbshit protagonist make him out to be.
Ladies and gentlemen, TowerTone! Thank you. Thank you. He’ll be here all week! Be sure to tip your waitress and drive home safely. Good night.
It more like 1% if that much…
Don’t get me wrong but when a so called CEO chooses to lie about his product isn’t that fraud in most circles?
M$$$ has become so unimportant that they have to fly all the way to Zurich to hold a news conference or is it cool to lie in Zurich…
Maybe he’s think that the European market is full of dumb asses who going to believe his shit!
Wrong Steve B, even the eastern European folks are smarter than that… it’s time that Steve B pack up and fly back to his little old sandbox back home!
I see DogGone has seen what most of us who puruse Apple Stores have seen lately – they are slammed with people, absolutely slammed.
Apple Stores are so packed, you would think it is Christmas, and that season has yet to kick off. People are buying like crazy, and it just goes to show how momentum goes a long, long, way and can’t be swayed overnight. Count on Redmond finding out again this year that the new Zunes won’t do a thing to Apple’s share, but instead will kill off a “partner” or two…
And that is the goal for M$. They won’t say it, but their goal is to make this a two-pony game.
1. No more innovations with Plays-for-Sure.
2. Zune to kill off SanDisk, Sony, Creative and whoever else is left.
3. Zune garners (over 3-5 years), 20% of the MP3 market space.
What journalists without narry any critical thinking skills will soon learn is that Apple will still garner 75% of the MP3 player market share, and while Zune will grow it will be due to 1 and 2, which will lead to 3.
Can Zune gain beyond that 20%? That’s the big question, and will MP3 players be relevant any longer or will they all be phones?
My guess is the latter, and Apple is building momentum by the day with that market space, while Redmond is floundering with their Win Mobile.
Steve is just rounding up!
If these other euros with grammar problems can split the atom, we’ll let it slide.
Since Apple quit selling 30GB iPods, Ballmer can boast that they have 100% of the 30GB hard drive based player market. And I’m sure we’ll hear him say it.
While I don’t think it’s practical to expect people to always use correct grammar, not knowing something as basic as the difference between “there” and “their” is a mistake usually made by Americans who grew up speaking English in America. Notice how defensive they get by calling others “Grammar Nazis”. I guess nothing is important anymore. Obviously, grammar, spelling and especially education don’t count for shit in this country. (Bad grammar intended)
I believe Microsoft has 100% of the brown mp3 player market…
If M$ is the underdog, doesn’t that say something about their remarkable ineptitude? They have tons of money to spend and they couldn’t figure out how to make a successful product? How embarrassing.
@John
For Christ’s sake, my name is John too and you are dragging us down the grammatical gutter.
“Their” not “there” please!
“Apple Stores are so packed, you would think it is Christmas, and that season has yet to kick off. People are buying like crazy, and it just goes to show how momentum goes a long, long, way and can’t be swayed overnight.”
i went to get an AppleTV at a time i knew they were less likely to be busy, and when the employees had confirmed was their slow time. 45 or so ppl in there and i had to wait for someone to get free to get the thing. and he recognized me and asked if i wanted a job, they are swamped and hiring.
the holiday season is going to be hell.
How much of these “1.2 million shipped” are shipped to a landfill? Does it have 10% dumpster share?
Oh come on!
Look, MDN, Apple did the same thing back when the iPod first came out. Apple purposefully did not compare the iPod’s market-share against those “cheap flash-based” players.
I agree with the basic tenet–Microsoft is dancing around the truth when they proclaim their 10% market share. In their defense, they only offered hard-drive-based players when they introduced the Zune and it wouldn’t be fair to compare them to the overwhelming market-share of flash-based MP3 players.
Of course, now that they have flash-based players, I wonder what they’ll do.
@ron
“BTW, the posters didn’t have competent teachers either.”
Or maybe the teachers were competent….the students just didn’t do crap…….just a thought.
Excellent point KenC.
10%! Ballmer is getting closer to reality. The last statement I read from him on the subject gave 25%.
John Davis
i ain’t not never ever seen a “Zune” out in public. never ever. i seen one at Target when they first came out but i’m not sure they even sell them anymore.
I dont gets it why your dissin my Gramma?
Jerk! So their!
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Class!! Class! Now Listen up!!!
Today we will study Micro$oft math:
Every item (software of hardware) shipped (please read “forced down the throats of our friendly distribution channel”) counts as a sale. Micro$oft does not take returns.
End of story…
Never believe the the B$ from $teve Ball$le$$mer… the only hting he can use his 10 digits for is five for a banana and the other for “his” banana – what a jerk-off!
Although I wouldn’t trust an iPod with this product myself, have y’all seen the Zune-inspired hide-a-pod?
http://hideapod.com/