Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Opening Zune Sales Flaccid

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the meager-beginnings dept.

An anonymous reader writes "As 'Black Friday' approaches and consumers line up for the Playstation 3 it looks like Zune has become an afterthought. Despite months of hype, opening Zune sales are only so-so. While Zune did reach the top 10 on Amazon's Top 25 list for electronic product sales on its first day, it quickly fell below the top 15 and continues to drop. Six separate iPod models now outsell it as well as SanDisk's e250 player. In-store sales are not much better."

4 of 451 comments (clear)

  1. I almost feel sorry for Microsoft... by jadobbins · · Score: 0, Troll

    ...but not really.

    --
    "There is no Honor, without Pie."
    -Weeble
  2. Re:Just another crappy MP3 player by FuturePastNow · · Score: 0, Troll

    "The popular ones don't have proprietary file formats, have a USB mass storage connection and a FM radio. Zune fails on all counts."

    Actually, they all play MP3s, which is what I assume you mean by non-proprietary formats (or do you mean ogg? You don't seriously think anyone outside Slashdot cares about ogg, do you?). And as for USB and FM radio, the popular players don't have either of those things.

    (Yes, I know iPods use USB. But they require a dock and aren't mass storage devices out of the box. They also can't be connected to other USB storage devices for file transfers. And stop looking at me like that- I like my iPod)

    --
    Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
  3. Re:Slashdot post distribution by davidmcg · · Score: 1, Troll
    99% posts that in one way or another pick Microsoft apart 0.5% intressting reads 0.5% dupes of above Sad place this have become.

    Become? Slashdot has never been pro-Microsoft, except now, there's a lot more MS fanboys reading the site making posts that keep claiming that 99% of the comments are anti-MS.

    So what's so bad about picking Microsoft apart anyway? Are we supposed to hype up something that's not particularly good but because it's Microsoft we have to like it? If we don't fell 100% affection for MS we're being unfair?

    Microsoft have screwed many people in the past, why be lenient on them. They have to go the extra mile to prove themselves to us because we've had so many bad experiences from them. Things like

    • Ballmer making threats about Linux IP without going into specifics
    • Microsoft's treatment of Plays for Sure customers
    • Delayed, buggy software that drops all the promised features (Vista)
    • No commitment to the customer (IE6 stagnant until competition appeared, paying royalties to record companies per zune sale because they think we're music theives, etc)
    So why shouldn't we be critical of them? Why do they deserve special treatment?
  4. Re:More proof there's more to the iPod than market by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 0, Troll

    This is true. I had seen survey results that showed that "coolness" was like fifth place in the list of reasons that people bought an iPod. But marketing is still important. The only marketing I have seen for direct competitors (i.e. non-phones) was one billboard for a Creative Zen. That's it. Otherwise, the most that most people that knew that there were competitors was at the store.

    Survey story & chart:
    http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2005/11/emw3053 91.htm
    http://www.emediawire.com/prfiles/2005/11/01/30539 1/chart19.gif