Microsoft received a lot of bad press when it first launched the Zune a couple of weeks ago, making the Zune seem like it wasn’t going to be the big iPod-slaying product that we were waiting for. It turns out that the Zune was actually the second highest selling portable digital player in the first four days of its release. The numbers were generated by market research firm NPD Group, which also stated the Zune had a very good first-week showing. The numbers only correspond to major U.S. electronic retailers, as online sales of the Zune placed it behind both Apple and Sandisk portable digital players.
It’s no surprise the Zune isn’t doing so well online as consumers who are more likely to buy a product online probably caught on to all of the bad press and reviews Microsoft had received regarding its new product. Henry Chen, of Current Analysis, stated Microsoft needs to come up with an improved Zune with touched-up features to be a strong competitor in the portable digital player market.
I have to disagree with Chen, I feel that the features on the Zune are already there and Microsoft needs to figure out a way to utilize them better. We don’t want Microsoft to release a new Zune every few months the way Apple does its iPod. The Zune is still fresh, and if Microsoft fixes the little problems the Zune faces, we may very well have a strong contender against the iPod.
Edit: I should point out that being the number two ranked player is less impressive because all of Apple’s sales are spread out across several iPod devices.
Zune May Stand A Chancel [cnn money]
I’m sorry. I know it’s pedantic and irrelevant, but I’ve cracked! I read CG every day, and it is by far and away my favourite feed, but this is about the third article this week that uses a phrase like ‘couple weeks’.
It seems that like many Americans, you have forgotten the lowly genitive case that adds so much colour to our illustrious language. So please spare a thought for the word ‘of’ this holiday season, as he seems to be forgotten. You wouldn’t say “I’ve got a new pair socks” so don’t say “launched the Zune a couple weeks ago”
Thank you for letting me rant.
Well said Masseyis. I completely agree. I want to find out about the gear without having to interpret the bad writing. That said, I love the site.
Sorry about that, guys. We’re trying to copy edit all this stuff as it comes out, but things sometimes sneak through.
I don’t think I’ve seen this posted anywhere before, but one issue that I’ve found with the Zune is the integrated FM tuner. I’ve noticed that many local stations broadcasting in digital have feedback and noise in the background. And depending on which way you turn the device the feedback lessens or grows. I hope its a firmware fix and not a problem with the internal antenna.
I’m sure most of the issues will be resolved in time through firmware. I totally agree with Raj that Microsoft should fix the device’s issues via firmware rather than introducing a new unit with new features and upgrades. The latter will just alienate and erode their initial install base from future purchases.
I’ve run into a few quirks in the Zune/Marketplace software, but the device itself is pretty great.
> “We don’t want Microsoft to release a new Zune every few months the way Apple does its iPod.”
That statement makes no sense. I’m not alone in being bitterly disappointed that Apple has no new iPod for me to buy this Christmas.
I bought a 5th gen 60GB iPod last year - it’s now been well over a year and they haven’t brought out the next generation. After a year they simply bumped the storage to 80GB and added a brighter screen part. Most firmware tweaks carried down to the year old model anyway. No incentive to upgrade at all.
And if you look at the lesser iPods: the Nano is really the same Nano in a different shell (all over anodized aluminum instead of half stainless steel + half lucite), but it also took well over a year to be changed.
The 1st gen Shuffle was out in Jan 2005, which is 23 months ago, and has only recently been replaced with the 2nd gen tie-clip model.
So the statement that Apple is constantly bringing out new models that supplant the old ones is just wrong.
In fact, I was so peeved Apple has been tardy in bringing out the “true video iPod” as the Engadget kids call it, I was consider buying a Zune, which does have newer features than the 5G iPod.
However, I’ll at least hold on until January now, given that the Zune’s new features are really non-features and the overall package is such a version 1 disaster.