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A Million Zunes Sold

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the zero-sold-to-anyone-i-know dept.

According to Robbie Bach, Microsoft's president of the Entertainment and Devices Division, Zune has already met the goal of 1.000.000 players sold, set at launch for the end of June. He also confirms that new Zune things will come in this fall, talks (not) about the Zune Phone, the new Watermelon Red Zune, the Zune Marketplace and of course Xbox 360.

13 of 424 comments (clear)

  1. but ... by eneville · · Score: 5, Insightful

    who bought these? i don't know anyone in the uk who has a zune.. for that matter i don't know anyone who has even SEEN a zune. did ms employees buy these at a knock-down rate?

    --
    Why UNIX?
    1. Re:but ... by tomstdenis · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You realize that a million isn't much right in the grand scheme of populations right?

      In the UK, if a million were sold there you'd have a 1/54 chance [or so] of knowing someone who owned a Zune. In Canada, it'd be about 1/32 or so. And given that I don't regularly hang out with 32 peeps [assuming all were sold in Canada though...] it's not surprising me that I haven't seen one.

      Tom

      --
      Someday, I'll have a real sig.
  2. 10% of $product market... by patio11 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Riddle me this Slashdot: Why is it that when a product achieves ... ...10% of the MP3 player market, it is less than an also-ran. ...10% of the browser market, it is a signal that the world is changing. ...10% of the OS market, it is news that would rival the second coming of Christ.

    (Hey, put down that Troll mod -- part-time Linux-based programmer with an iPod here... Really.)

    --
    Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
    1. Re:10% of $product market... by Headcase88 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I like that point but I'm pretty sure Zune doesn't have 10% of the MP3 player market by a long shot.

      --
      "When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
    2. Re:10% of $product market... by nanosquid · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's not the market that makes the difference, it's the company. In the past, Microsoft has been able to kill competitors simply by announcing a product, and if that wasn't enough, they'd follow it with billions in marketing and loss leaders. Microsoft wanted to make Zune a big success and they have failed; it's just another clunky Microsoft product that may or may not sell enough to break even eventually.

      OTOH, when other companies achieve 10% market share against a convicted but unrepentant monopolist with billions of dollars in his war chest and an army of lawyers, yes, that is big news.

    3. Re:10% of $product market... by RodgerDodger · · Score: 4, Insightful

      10% of the market = 10% of the units sold in period (7 months from start of December to end of June). We're talking the hard-disk-based players here, BTW, as per the interview.

      Apple doesn't have a market share of 100 million iPods. They've got an _installed base_ of 100 million iPods. During the first three months of '07, Apple sold 10,549,000 iPods - but the Shuffle and the Nano don't count (flash-based). Let's assume (for the sake of argument) that about half the iPods Apple sell are the HD models, and that they'll sell about the same again the April-June period. So you're looking at about 8-10 million HD iPods sold in the period described. Suddenly, a 10% market share for the Zune selling about 1 million in the same period isn't unrealistic.

      I think we can assume that the Microsoft guy got the size of the market right - he may be exaggerating sales by including units still in the channels and not with customers, but the size of the market is right.

      Still, I don't know who buys these things. But then, I don't think MS sells them in Australia yet, so that's hardly surprising for me.

      --
      "Software is too expensive to build cheaply"
  3. Is the Zune a Player? by GaryPatterson · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd hoped that the Zune would be a stronger competitor to the iPod, offering things Apple didn't and raising the bar on portable players generally.

    As a fan of Apple, I'm keen to see better players in this space to drive everyone up. It's good to see Microsoft claiming the million players sold, but the Zune as it stands today is a turkey. The innovative wireless sharing has been hobbled by unnecessarily draconian DRM, leaving a weak offering. Maybe Zune 2 will be better, but it's a failure to release a poor first showing, as now we've all got this first impression to overcome.

    I'd like to see Microsoft release a really solid Zune. Promises are worth exactly nothing; only products matter.

  4. Sold? or Shipped? by Basilius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We all know MSFT counts something as sold the day it leaves the warehouse, not the day it leaves the store.

    I know more people with Archos products (2) than Zunes (1).

  5. Best Buy, Comp USA, Wal-Mart? by Bayoudegradeable · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1,000,000 sold to vendors perhaps? Sold to customers might be different but if there are 1 mil Zunes on shelves or in stock out there M$ can claim "million sold."

    --
    Sig Registration Form 34c_766(a) submitted to Ministry of Signature Management. Approval pending.
  6. Re:Finally! What I've been waiting for! by Tickletaint · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Only because the color is emblematic of everything else wrong with the Zune. Skin it all you want, but the Zune is still hobbled by Microsoft's staggering failure to "get it."

    --
    Make Slashdot readable! See journal.
  7. Re:Same with the ipods back when they hit 1 mil. by FonzCam · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not that iPods were more visible among certain subcultures, it's because the iPod is more visible because of those bright white headphones. People advertise the fact that they are using an iPod. If you saw someone walking down the street listening to a Zune you'd probably think it was an iPod with 3rd party headphones.

  8. How much did they pay for this slashvertisement? by Ant+P. · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Check the UID and comment count of the "user" that submitted this story.

  9. Industry, Markets, M$. by twitter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    People in the industry like to break up the market into "hard drive" and "flash" segments.

    And then the people at M$ like to just make up a number that sounds big and an excuse for it that sounds good but is wrong. It's called lying.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.