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Wal-Mart Leaks Zune Price
nieske writes, "Engadget reports that Wal-Mart accidentally published online the intended price of the Microsoft Zune; the iPod rival would apparently retail for $284. The price was quickly pulled from the Wal-Mart site. Reports say that Microsoft was flustered when Apple dropped the price for the iPod 30 GB, previously $299, to $249. BetaNews states that 'undercutting the iPod is a major goal of Microsoft's upcoming effort.' Will Microsoft respond to Apple with another price drop?"
Down to $229.99 apparently: http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/zune s-final-price-22999-msrp-202066.php
And:
The AACS key is NOT 0xF606EEFD628B1CA427BEA93A9CA9773F
It seems that the Zune has a use after all, as a method to get Apple to reduce it's prices on the iPod.
Microsoft isn't going to do squat with the "Zune" for one reason alone. The thing is called "Zune". What does that mean to anybody? Must have been some real genius that came up with that one. I wonder if the package is going to look anything like this?
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
That would be great, but I wouldn't trust a sentence starting with "One of our moles on the inside told us...".
The AACS key is NOT 0xF606EEFD628B1CA427BEA93A9CA9773F
Let's be honest here.
Ipod is synonamous with MP3 player now. Even grannies going to the shops for their grandchildren will ask for an iPod by name. We say podcast, podcasting. I can't see people Zunecasting. Unless the Zune offers something substantially better or a great and highly compelling new feature (Actually, I've just thought of one, maybe I should copyright it right now..) no-one else has thought of then it's just not going to sell. The only hope MS have is to back it up with an extremely cheap song purchase system but I can't see them doing that without oodles of DRM involved.
I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
Once again on the price, you need to make a product sexy to sell it. The dancing silhouette with the white headphones sold the iPod because it looked good.
So Microsoft, I propose you do this:
A dancing Ballmer silhouette.
My pulse is rising already just thinking about it.
Summation 2
Hey, if anybody's gonna have some good insight into the underworld, it'd be a mole...
This guy's the limit!
And can you imagine the DRM nightmare that is going to be on that MSFT device? I have clients all the time needing help moving music they ripped on mediaplayer to a new machine. they will not play because they did not set the "dont encumber my music with drm dammit" flag in the advanced settings hidden in mediaplayer. so I haveto explain to them what DRM is and they still do not understand.
The other biggest failure of the Microsoft device will be that I dont care what service they couple with, iTunes has way more music selection on it that anything Microsoft can come up with.
I dont love the iPod, I'm a non drm kind of guy with my iRivers... but microsoft is not known for open and easy to use.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
So, the question is, will MS do with zune as they did with the xbox and sell it at a loss just so they can overtake apple.. ?
also, why is a zune price leak in the apple section?
MABASPLOOM!
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I agree, wait a few months and Zunes will be on Overstock.com in the "iPod Killer" category :)
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Is this dumping?
I'm serious. With their huge cash reserves, Microsoft could enter the market in toilet seats tomorrow, price them at 99 cents, drive everyone else out of business, and drive up the price to $10,000 a seat.
We've already seen them put Netscape out of business by giving away the browser, so can Apple (or any other manufacturer) cry 'foul' and accuse Microsoft of dumping? What are the laws in this situation?
www.lucernesys.comHorizon: Calendar-based personal finance
Are freeware writers also dumpers? Do they start being dumpers if they later start charging for their software? Mmmmm...
The AACS key is NOT 0xF606EEFD628B1CA427BEA93A9CA9773F
They have to be careful. If it is cheaper than the iPod, that could add to it's image of being a knockoff. It's like wine. People look at all of the bottles on the shelf and don't have any idea what the difference is, but their pretty sure that the $40 bottle is better than the $6 bottle, even though that isn't really true at all. Put yourself at best buy. The 30GB iPod (which you've heard of and seen before) is $249 and this Zune thing is $229. You quickly scan the specs, see that they are about the same, and figure that this Zune thing must just be a cheap knockoff. On the other hand, if it were $259, you might ask a salesperson what the difference is.
All of this is moot anyway - they went after the wrong market, IMO. The most popular iPod is the tiny little Nano. Unless they were trying to create a niche product, I'm not sure why they didn't go after the biggest market.
Who runs MS, anyway? Who thought it was a great idea to compete with their licensees? And then against Apple's iPod, where all others have failed? If I was a shareholder I'd be furious. If I were a licensee I'd be furious. If iPod sales ever go flat (don't they have to at some point?), Apple might get a nice reception to an offer to license FairPlay now... a real "plays for sure".
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Both companies will be making similar products at similar cost (using cheap labour etc). Apple has to maintain profitability on the iPod since it's a core Apple product, whereas Microsoft can afford to sell at cost or maybe a small loss in order to put strain on Apple. I would have thought this was illegal, but since it's standard practice in the console industry I'm not so sure. I think Apple is reorganising its iPod product, though. The Nano is being repositioned as the bread-and-butter line with the iPod being sold as a sort of 'premium' product. The Zune will come off second best to the Nano since most people don't want to socialise with their technology (mobile phones aside :P). An MP3 player is something you use when you are going somewhere, at the gym, bored or whatever, and not something you want to play around with infront of your friends swapping DRM'ed files and watching video. The raison d'etre for a digital audio player is... music, and by all accounts the Nano does this well. It's difficult to add value beyond that.
In short, the Zune has arrived just as the HDD iPod has left the stage.
Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped. Calvin Coolidge
The product it is leading is Vista.
In the 1990's Microsoft spent thousands of man-hours creating a pen operating system that died on the vine. It was a pure cost to the company, no profit. But the key point is that it died AFTER the GO Penpoint operating system died. Martin Eller, one of the Microsoft staff involved, even has a quote in his book:
"This wasn't a thing about making money. This was all about 'block that kick.""
Apple makes money selling iPods, but the big play for them is the iPod halo effect to sell more Macs. Macs (and Mac software) are much more profitable than an iPod. The release of Vista, with all its associated angst, represents a big opportunity for Apple. Microsoft will fight that halo effect with everything they've got, even if they have to lost money on every single Zune. They make their money from Windows, and this is all about protecting the Microsoft market (and mind) share.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Is this dumping?
I'm serious. With their huge cash reserves, Microsoft could enter the market in toilet seats tomorrow, price them at 99 cents, drive everyone else out of business, and drive up the price to $10,000 a seat.
We've already seen them put Netscape out of business by giving away the browser, so can Apple (or any other manufacturer) cry 'foul' and accuse Microsoft of dumping? What are the laws in this situation?
Yes, and we all know how Microsoft ran up the price of Internet Explorer once Netscape was out of the picture...
Yes, and we all know how Microsoft ran up the price of Internet Explorer once Netscape was out of the picture...
Yes we know, and for those skeptical people out there, here it is : they ran up the price by not paying anymore people on improving Internet Explorer. Which means that before, the price of Windows included the cost of the dev team on IE. After Netscape was out of the picture, the price of Windows didn't include that cost anymore, but was still the same.
I think you are failing to take into consideration the fact that this is a whole different set of circumstances.
Netscape lost the battle over IE due to one primary reason: IE was pre-bundled with Windows.
Now, you may scoff at that, but think about it.
A person new to PCs and the internet goes to the local Wal-Mart/BestBuy or whatever, and buys a computer. They come home, get it set up (or more likely, get help from a friend/relative) and try to get to the internet. And what pops up? Various MS assistants that lead them directly to Outleak, IE, and WMP. Case closed. If that person wanted Netscape, they had to download it from somewhere, or get a copy on a CD from their ISP. And even though MOST ISPs sent a copy of Netscape to the customers in the late 90's, the damage was already done. Customers were now familiar with IE and Outleak, and had no reason to switch.
The difference today is that both Zune and iPods are a computer attachment. And the purchaser of said MP3 players won't be looking at a PC for the very first time 99% of time. Nor will it be their first time on the internet.
Apple is flat out DOMINATING the portable MP3 player market. I am sure they are working HARD to keep their trademark alive, so the iPod doesn't become the Xerox machine , or the next aspirin. Because iPods are now synonomous to the world with MP3 player.
I just don't see MS getting the Zune to that point.
It would give a new meaning to "per-seat license"
I'll wipe with the End-user Latrine Agreement (EULA).
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.