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Heavily Discounted Zune Outpacing iPod Sales
firegate writes "Yahoo Tech is reporting that the Microsoft Zune, having been heavily discounted for the holiday season, 'is currently Amazon's top-selling music player, beating out the new iPod Nano and the 80GB iPod on the 'Bestsellers in Electronics' list.' An Associated Press report even indicates that the Zune's newfound popularity has left it in short supply, sold out in many locations. Is this a sign that a true competitor, from Microsoft no less, has finally broken into the Apple-dominated MP3 player market? And will this spell more success for Windows-media based music subscription services like Napster?"
It just shows that Microsoft can afford to lose money to gain market share. They can't keep selling it at a loss and hope to eventually make a profit, since Microsoft's online music store isn't as comprehensive as iTunes.
got sig?
Heavily Discounted
Will Microsoft be able to sell it through another outlet? What will be done with all the Generation One Zunes still on shelves? What percentage of these Gen 2 Zunes are being purchased by hapless parents who will see them returned by ungrateful children?
For the answer to this and many more questions, wait for December 26!
How would this spell success for Windows-media based subscription services, since the Zune doesn't support PlaysForSure?
I think that sort of thing is called "predatory pricing": pricing something below cost in order to drive a competitor out of business. It's frowned upon in a free market, in particular when a company uses one monopoly to support predatory pricing in a different market.
Of course, given that Apple itself dominates the MP3 player market so much, I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry...
They could give it away for free to everybody who runs windows and it would not effect their bottom line. In fact, they could give one to everybody (I would guess that they would not give it to google or Linux users). At that point, how many music companies would NOT sell through MS?
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Apple wants to lock you into FairPlay? Then how does their move to iTunes Plus DRM-free tracks (with EMI, as well as being offered with a number of indie labels now) jibe with that? Apple has extended DRM-free track offerings to the other labels as well, but they haven't bought into it yet (because they want to try and build up competitors like Amazon.com's DRM-free MP3 store). But seriously, what is your evidence that Apple WANTS to continue locking people in via FairPlay? I can't see anything that indicates that.
Unfortunately for them, there is no way to recoup money on the loss leader Zune as there is on the X Box (i.e. games sales and subscription play services).
This isn't the first time though, that Microsoft has gone with a one-size-fits-all strategy.
It won't be the last either.
Some days it's just not worth
chewing through my restraints.
People will buy ghetto versions of desirable objects if they become sufficiently cheap? My Coby CD player and I are shocked, shocked.
There's an old salesman's saying:
It takes no particular talent to sell a dollar for fifty cents.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
Amazon Sales Rank in no way represents reality. Just last week many members the HD-DVD rah-rah camp prematurely declared victory for software sales based on Amazon rankings showing HD-DVD titles outselling Blu-Ray by a large margin. In reality Nielsen VideoScan came back to show Blu-Ray taking the week 73:27.
For the entire month of July the PS3 was in the top three of the Video Game category at Amazon, seemingly outselling even the Wii most of the month. The Xbox 360 was barely in the top 20 for the month. When the smoke cleared the Wii outsold the PS3 by over 300% and the 360 beat it by 11k units.
Amazon Sales Rank is useless for comparing product sales.
Although Apple seem to have a halo on Slashdot, they are every bit as nasty as Microsoft in this department. Apple want to lock you in to the Fairplay every bit as much as Microsoft wants to lock you in to Windows Media DRM.
ORLY? "Convincing [the big music companies] to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly." http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/
geek. lawyer.
I wonder how many billions Microsoft plans to lose on this turkey? Billions lost over the life span of WindowsCE has purchased them a strong hold of the PDA market but is giving them problems in the SmartPhone market with Nokia's Symbian and Linux stalling that effort.
Anyways, it isn't a surprise that Microsoft is dumping billions into this product and suckers are picking it up. It's not like they don't have the cash to dump on this and we all know there are millions of suckers willing to pick up a Microsoft product because it's cheap.
The only thing of interest here is how many billions Microsoft is willing to lose to gain market share against Apple. They've crossed over the $10 billion mark to kill Palm about 4 years ago. But it's a laugh when the press talks about WinCE, PocketPC, Windows Moble, etc being a good product line for Microsoft. So if you're a MSFT investor, Zune will be a massive loser too. IMO.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
Okay, here's something interesting:
Now go back and look at that first list, and take note of the iPods in the top few places. Done that? Okay, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to locate those same models on either of the other two lists.
No luck? Okay, just find *any* of the current generation of iPods (iPod Classic, iPod touch, iPod shuffle (clip version), iPod nano w/video) on the two narrowed lists. In fact, I don't see the new Zunes on those lists either, when it's apparently at #9 (at time of posting) on the general list. Nothing in the top 12 places on the general list appears in either of the other two.
So, it turns out there's a pretty simple explanation for this:
Amazon hasn't tagged the latest generations of iPods or Zunes as either HDD- or flash-based.
As a result, they just don't show in those sub-lists. And since the price-dropped 1st Gen. Zune is proving more popular than last-season's iPods, it appears above them on all lists of which they are a member, including the general list (it's at #15 right now-- the 30Gb Brown one). It just happens to place behind all the current models from both manufacturers.
-Q
What a nasty world we live in where a kid will go into a sulk because they only got a "wrongly" branded $100+ MP3 player on Christmas morning.
I write bullshit
These stats have little meaning for one giant (I would think obvious) reason -- people don't buy their iPods from Amazon. I bet 90% of iPods are sold at either apple.com or Apple stores. Zunes are sold 3rd party.
Second moral of the story: Don't forget to include the receipt in the gift, so they can return it without embarrassing you or them by informing you that you shouldn't buy stuff you know crap about.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
If you give it away,
they will come.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
The same trick are done on washing machines etc, in Scandinavia. They all have slightly different product numbers.
I discovered it because I was looking for a new one and was googleling for some info on a AEG machine, which turned up very little.
The Zune does take spots 1, 2, and 4. However, the most recent generation of iPods is conspicuously absent...the iPod in space three is the previous generation. Where is the iPod Classic? So the Zune is getting spots 1, 2, and 4 on that specific page because there is a lack of current generation iPods. The same is true of the PDMP bestseller list: the iPods listed are the previous generation. If you notice on the first screen you get to navigating from Amazon's homepage to the MP3 & Media Players, the iPods are their own category. The conspicuous lack of any current generation iPods showing up in any of the 3 subcategories of MP3 (flash-based, hard drive-based and PDMPs) may be because Amazon has listed them as iPods, and not as flash-based etc.
Also, how many people do you think get their iPods from Apple vs. Amazon? Does Microsoft even sell the Zune directly (answer: no)? So regarding on the sales from Amazon is kinda ludicrous...
Regardless of Microsoft's involvement of it, anyone using these data to claim that the Zune is outpacing the iPod sales has had their reality cable become unplugged...
It has been a nervous year, with people beginning to feel like Christian Scientists with appendicitis.
So is the Zune supported by Microsoft on non-Windows operating systems?
If not, what OS does Microsoft reccomend you use to get music onto the Zune?
There's your tie-in to a monopoly product.
No tyrant thrives when every subject says no.