News
Mix: Zune 2.0, iPod sales, Scroll Wheel, MySpace
Microsoft has announced plans to build a new plant in China which will manufacture the second-generation Zune. In the announcement, Jason Reindorp, marketing director for Zune, revealed that the next iteration of the device includes a number of different versions with varying prices and storage capacities.
Retail numbers gathered by the NPD Group show that retail sales of iPods were down in March, with the player’s market share dropping below 70 percent.
A new Microsoft business telephone prototype, shown at the Windows Hardware and Engineering Conference, sports an iPod-like scroll wheel, which is used for navigating menus and long lists of contacts.
MySpace, iTunes and other online services are changing the way independent musicians connect with their fans, according to an interesting New York Times article. [via Kottke]
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1
Sales are down because they have not released any new large capacity Ipods worth purchasing for awhile now. My I Pod is filled u-p, but I don’t want to get a video until they improve the device.
Posted by Ricky C on May 15, 2007 at 12:29 PM (PDT)
2
It’s a tough call. Zune certainly has a nicer screen for watching videos, but they don’t have a lot of movies/TV shows for sale on their site. I love buying these off iTunes and watching them on my iPod, but I could wish it had a larger screen. I think if Apple releases an iPod with a nicer screen, they will be unbeatable.
Posted by Mary Jo DiBella on May 15, 2007 at 12:33 PM (PDT)
3
Microsoft’s Zune stayed put at 2.5 percent share, but the company remains optimistic about its chances. The company believes it will eventually take the lead in the category once it releases new models and begins international sales.
Been smokin’ the good Canadian stuff, eh Redmond? Or should we bother to ask how you define ‘category’?
Oh to be oblivious and ever optimistic…
Posted by flatline response on May 15, 2007 at 2:06 PM (PDT)
4
...can microsoft EVER keep anything a secret?
Posted by mrmojorising on May 15, 2007 at 2:53 PM (PDT)
5
apple’s quarterly report says ipod sales are up, creative’s quarterly report says MP3 player sales are down, but NPD says that apple is losing market share and creative is gaining?
note: NPD is just talking about march, not a whole quarter, but this still isn’t really adding up.
Posted by zip22 on May 15, 2007 at 10:26 PM (PDT)
6
I agree with flatline. Does Microsoft honestly think that a few revisions to the Zune will suddenly boost them up 68.5% market share?
Posted by Nobody on May 16, 2007 at 4:08 AM (PDT)
7
Microsoft will indeed take over the music player space…once the general public has moved on to a better device as a whole. Ala the PDA. Palm was the PDA leader hands down, with MS little more than a blip on the radar. Once smartphones began to kill the stand-alone PDA market Palm focused their attention there and MS now rules the nearly dead, stand alone PDA market now. While trying to catch up to RIM, in the smartphone arena.
It’ll be the same with music. Once apple or some other company develops the next definitive portable media device MS will take over the dead and/or dying market and play catch up in the bleeding edge one.
Posted by ArtVandelay on May 16, 2007 at 8:07 AM (PDT)