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Microsoft hits play on iPod rival | |
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| Time: 17:20 EST/22:20 GMT | News Source: News.com | Posted By: Andre Da Costa | ||
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After trying for years to compete with the iPod through an array of partners, Microsoft confirmed Friday that it plans to directly go after Apple Computer with its own rival, Zune. Confirming weeks of rumors, Microsoft said that it will launch music software and players under the Zune brand, though the software maker left plenty unsaid in its confirmation. "Today we confirmed a new music and entertainment project called Zune," Chris Stephenson, a general manager of marketing for the software maker. "Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year." | ||
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| #1 By 7754 (216.160.8.41) at 7/21/2006 5:39:25 PM |
| I'm quite skeptical about this one. If the reports are true that it would carry a price tag of $399, they are out of their minds. Microsoft has never made its mark by charging more than their competitors--if the XBox had arrived at a price point $100 more than the PS2, you think it would be where it is today? If this ends up being merely iPod + WiFi + $100, I can't see it doing anything other than failing miserably... and maybe my imagination just isn't good enough, but I can't imagine how the "social networking" features would change that outcome (particularly with the price premium). Allard and his team are very smart and creative folks, though, so hopefully there's more to this picture and I'll be proven wrong.... |
| #2 By 665 (67.185.84.40) at 7/21/2006 5:55:52 PM |
| bluvg, The 60GB iPod is $399.99. |
| #3 By 3653 (68.52.143.149) at 7/21/2006 6:19:05 PM |
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please please please let it include some game functionality. i LONG for the day someone puts a hurtin on peter-pan-complexed nintendo. if a company refuses to grow up, it deserves the eventual kick in the pants it gets.
bluvg - "Microsoft has never made its mark by charging more than their competitors" Uh, did you pay any attention to the PDA war? Thats EXACTLY what Microsoft did. They were way off the chart on price compared to Palms. And eventually, volume led to price decreases and the snow ball effect led them to their current place at the top of that market. "I can't see it doing anything other than failing miserably" they'll grab a quick 10% of the market simply from the geeks and rich toy boys. That automatically puts them in the 2nd slot. Then the ground and pound battles begin. Marketing Zune (I guess that name is gonna have to grow on me) for FREE to 250,000,000 hotmail and 250,000,000 messenger users. And don't think they aren't willing to add in some very agreeable (and frustrated) itune wanna-be's like yahoo. And if the rumors are true that they'll convert your itune songs for free... then they are willing to put their financial might behind it. That opens the doors to all manner of free song giveaways, etc. God, I love a good fight. This post was edited by mooresa56 on Friday, July 21, 2006 at 18:24. |
| #4 By 7760 (12.155.143.50) at 7/21/2006 6:23:26 PM |
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I hope that they have a catchier name for the actual device than Zune. Most of the people who buy iPods do it because it's been blessed as "cool" in today's society and has recognition (in name and appearance). I think that it's pretty stupid, but it's hard to argue with a winning marketing strategy, and Microsoft will need to fight back with a similar strategy if they want to succeed.
As much as I think that it's just as stupid, Microsoft might be best off by parlaying their XBox name recognition by naming this device Xsomething... or maybe even ZBox. Something along those lines would tie it into the XBox name recognition while also keeping a name similar in style to iPod to cash in on its name recognition, too. |
| #5 By 11888 (67.70.70.236) at 7/21/2006 6:53:03 PM |
| I just hope it's every bit as good as the Microsoft Cordless Phone. Please let it be! |
| #6 By 3653 (68.52.143.149) at 7/22/2006 12:56:06 AM |
|
a bit more info here...
http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6556030.html?tag=cnetfd.sd |
| #7 By 7754 (65.27.90.2) at 7/22/2006 3:19:16 AM |
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#2: but, at least according to the spec (rumors) I've seen, they're saying that's for a 30 GB model.
#3: Yes, I did--and it took Microsoft a LONG time to make headway against Palm. They still could do much better in the mobile/PDA market. The people that bought the CE-based PDAs were the gadget nuts, because the things were packed to the gills full of features (and weight). The first iPaqs (ironic, looking back... did Apple take a naming cue from Compaq?) had a certain appeal to them, and that's when they started taking off. The difference here is that the iPaq was in a completely different league hardware-wise than the Palm (and it was one of the first that didn't feel like carrying around a brick), and these devices ran different kinds of applications than just that of digital music players--the difference in raw performance between the old Motorola Dragonball proc and the Intel was something that made a significant difference in the way the devices functioned, and people paid attention to that. I'm not so sure (based on the specs I've seen) that we'll see that kind of differentiation between the iPod and Microsoft's offering. But, who knows? On the other hand, you're right, the iTunes free song conversion option is significant--but only if they get some market traction. It serves as a barrier-reducer, but it's not really an incentive. It's going to take something more to make people switch, and I don't think WiFi along with a $100 premium are going to do it--especially when they're up against Apple's excellent hardware. They've got to raise the bar. You're right about the fight, too--we'll all benefit from that! |
| #8 By 7754 (65.27.90.2) at 7/22/2006 3:22:20 AM |
| BTW... if this turns out like another UMPC, Microsoft will have a lot of egg on its face. |
| #9 By 61 (71.251.125.167) at 7/22/2006 10:36:53 AM |
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bluvg, it won't.
For one, UMPC is just a spec that Microsoft released for building a small but fully functional computing device that is inexpensive. Unfortunately the manufacturers all decided to go with hardware that costs over $1000. These devices are supposed to run as low as $500... something is wrong there. They are putting too much power into these devices that simply do not need it. I wish there were a $500 one, I would probably grab one up and then get an EVDO connection and be able to do all my business stuff from this little thing. Would be nice. Zune is one, not nearly as complicated a device, two, not meant for the low end, and three is not just a specification, it's coming out of Microsoft's Hardware devision, and is manufactured by Microsoft. |
| #10 By 2960 (68.101.39.180) at 7/22/2006 2:09:22 PM |
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One thing to keep in mind.
IF Microsoft releases this and IF it turns out to be a slow seller, you can count on MS dropping it like a hot potato and leaving everyone else in the wreckage. They have proven time and again that they will do this with hardware. Hell, they've even screwed over people with SUCCESSFUL hardware products. Examples: UltimateTV. SideWinder. Networking Products. -Larry |
| #11 By 61 (71.251.125.167) at 7/22/2006 3:42:33 PM |
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Yeah, I don't get why the ever quit the Sidewinder stuff, of course the Sidewinder 2 joystick was really cheapy compared with the original, but still.
I don't know why they got into networking products, and since they got into it, I don't know why the left so quickly, paid off, maybe? UltimateTV never really took off. They still do have MSNTV2 and it hasn't really gone anywhere. |
| #12 By 23275 (68.17.42.38) at 7/22/2006 5:07:23 PM |
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#10, I so totallt disagree with you on these points.
I assess that Micorsoft demonstrated incredible leadership and generosity in each of the cases you list as failures, or leaving people in the wreckage. In each of these cases Microsoft offered to all hardware vendors billions in R&D that they had promised to lend to each of these market segments. The truth is that they set out to evolve the wireless networking stack and how companies could much more effectively and securely interoperate with their operating systems and software and in agreements made with others in that industry, they limited their penetration into that market - offering their own devices under the own brand increased consumer interest and confidence opposite wireless networking and if one recalls, they were released with timed releases in updates to the OS. As promised, they exited these markets as they had planned, but after each industry partner had been strengthened and more and more people began to make use of them. There is no question that their development tools and hardware abstraction layer kits helped all in each of these. The same was and is true of the human interface side - gaming devices, etc... where it was so inconsistent before and game developers had such a hard time supporitng the increasing diversity of devices.... MS stepped in and up and evoved that on behalf of the industry and consumers. The same is being done again with media of all types - where they consistently see most challenges and solutions as software solutions. They use the hardware division to advance each of these and expand the use of all software - continually and very strongly supporting both hardware and software developers of every type and size - even tiny companies like my own. I am astonished that people cannot see this - the evidence is very clear - look at how many conferences they support and run and how very dependent the industry is on their leadership and investments. The truth as I see it is that Microsoft is about as giving a company as one can find - they recognize that if they are going to grow that the industry has to grow as well. |
| #13 By 3 (62.253.128.15) at 7/23/2006 6:48:34 AM |
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#2 - yeah but the Zune is set to be 30GB at $399...while the iPod is 60GB at $399.
I like the sound of the Zune, it also has some very talented people behind it. If they can make it stylish (thats what will matter in the end to the millions of music playing buyers who love the iPod) then it will sell very well, if it ends up looking like it does in the shots around the web, it'll fail. |
| #14 By 3 (62.253.128.15) at 7/23/2006 6:51:18 AM |
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#10 - if you mean successful in terms of quality then yes all those examples were, but they didn't sell anywhere near as many as was expected, thats why they stopped making them. The Network products for example sold hardly any.
In terms of the Zune, they won't drop it even if it doesn't sell well(and I don't expect it to for a heck of a long time). They don't want Apple to have the marketshare, they won't just sit back and let them. They have failed with everything they have tried to do so far to get the marketshare back to Windows Media based players, this is finally their one big try themselves. |
| #15 By 3 (62.253.128.15) at 7/23/2006 6:53:29 AM |
| #9 - the problem with the UPMC was that no one knows who they are aimed at, thats why the price was high, they couldn't release something that size with much lower power than they already have done, if they did it would die even quicker than it already is doing, even at $500. It was a good idea, badly implemented with no idea who was going to use it...they have since found out who does - no one. |
| #16 By 3653 (68.52.143.149) at 7/23/2006 7:06:10 AM |
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i think people have forgotten how msft's networking products ended. they brought out a fine 802.11a/b router (I beta tested it, and got two for free... and still use one to this day). BUT by the time this hardware went to retail, they had already determined the market to be so well served, that they didn't need to incubate it. So, when everyone went to the "g" standard, LITERALLY, a couple of months later... they didn't release their "g" product.
lketchum, you've got a great strategic understanding and thanks for explaining it so clearly. You are spot on correct, at least for the networking gear. I didn't pay much attention to the Sidewinder wind-down, so I can't comment. Regarding UltimateTV... it was abandoned as a stand-alone product only... so they wouldn't be competing with Dell/etc when the Media Center OS came out. When they saw how many OEMs were ready to push Media Center, they dropped UltimateTV. This post was edited by mooresa56 on Sunday, July 23, 2006 at 17:23. |
| #17 By 11888 (65.93.75.239) at 7/23/2006 10:38:22 PM |
| This comment has been removed due to a violation of the Active Network Terms of Use. |
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