Microsoft to phase out unsuccessful Zune player

[onehandle]

Source: Reuters

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp is not planning any more versions of its unpopular Zune digital media player, but is to continue offering music and video using the same software online, through its Xbox game console and on its Windows phones.

The decision not to further develop the handheld device effectively ends Microsoft's 4-1/2-year bid to unseat Apple Inc's iPod, which revolutionized the portable music market in 2001.

"We have nothing to announce about another Zune device," a Microsoft spokesman said in an emailed response to questions about the Zune. Bloomberg earlier reported that the company had decided to stop producing them.

He said Zune devices would still be supported in North America, and that Zune software would play a part in Microsoft's other offerings.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110314/tc_nm/us_microsoft_zune_1

---

Daddy what's that?

Well I think it's a pager.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGEtXQIXFJE



On edit: It came in brown...

BROWN!

[Drale]

1. No its a rechargeable paper weight

:rofl:

[Teaser]

2. how do you phase out something no one has?

gonna be buried in the same landfill as the ET video game.

[Codeine]

17. Like when Sega phased out the Dreamcast.

"The what?"

[MNBrewer]

3. If MS were to phase out all it's crappy products, well....

no more MS.

[hlthe2b]

4. I remember an interview with Bill Gates and family...

The wife (Melinda) stated that no ipods were allowed in the house-- "that everyone had zunes of course!"...


I had to laugh at that and think, what a bummer for the kids! LOL

[IamK]

5. His kids just hire the band when they want to hear a song...

[Heddi]

6. That isn't true, though. A friend of mine worked for Bill Gates. His daughter had an ipod

My friend, who worked in some IT Capacity for Gates at his home had to set up the iPod for the daughter.

I heard this story direcly from that friend (not a friend of a friend type thing) about 4 years ago.

I thought it was funny because at the time and still do!

[Missy Vixen]

13. Ze height of irony

One of our friends is in middle management at the Evil Empire. She has mentioned before that there are negative consequences to being seen with an iPod on any Microsoft campus. The Seattle Times wrote a story awhile back stating that there were negative career consequences to using an iPod on Microsoft property as well.

Heddi, I'm backing up your story about the Gates daughter owning an iPod, because we were told the same thing.

:rofl:

[Heddi]

25. a guy I knew worked at MS, and he had an iphone (this was years ago when they first came out)

and he said he had to use it secretly because he'd pay hell if his coworkers saw him using an iphone instead of a blackberry :rofl:

[rpannier]

7. Another failure by Microflop

A good reason to keep Bill away from the public education sector

[Teaser]

10. he's not nearly so bad

as he was a decade ago.

[Xithras]

11. Funny thing about the Zune is that it's really not a bad MP3 player.

The only real problem with the Zune is that it showed up after the game had already ended. Apple and Sandisk were already entrenched market leaders when the Zune was launched, and the mobile revolution had already begun to make THEM obsolete. The market for MP3 players is quickly evaporating, and even the venerable iPod has been seeing its sales numbers plunge quarter after quarter. They're selling at a rate BELOW their 2006 levels nowadays.

Everyone who needs an MP3 player has one, and if you're buying a new device today, you're FAR more likely to buy a smartphone that can play your music AND do a heck of a lot more.

[pintobean]

14. It's a great MP3 player

Superior sound quality and more useful features than the ipod, but not as slick or gimmicky.

[BillyJack]

8. Microsoft & Apple's "rivalry" is all contrived nonsense.

They work hand-in-hand to deliver the PERCEPTION of rivalry/competition, when in fact, there is none AT ALL.

Anyone who still believes that there is REAL competition with regards to Apple/MS is just a "sucka".

[krispos42]

9. Future tense? Really?

Hmph.

[onehandle]

12. Yeah, really.

Ha!

[Shagbark Hickory]

15. Guess apple is the monopoly then. Sad day for consumers.

[Codeine]

16. Monopoly? Every smartphone sold is an MP3 player.

And there are still plenty of smaller makes of dedicated MP3 players, if that's your taste.

[Shagbark Hickory]

18. So then you're saying Apple will phase out the ipod soon?

[Codeine]

19. It's on its way to obsolescence in a big hurry.

Sales drop for the traditional iPod every year, so it's quite likely that the future will only see the smaller flash-based iPods that are typically given to kids as Apple focuses more and more on 'Phones and 'Pads.

The dedicated MP3 player was a transitional technology and its time is rapidly running out.

[pintobean]

20. All true, but there will still be a market for them

for quite a while - a much smaller market.

[Shagbark Hickory]

22. I guess people that don't want to subscribe to mobile phone service are what I like to refer to as

fucked.

[Codeine]

23. Same as people who still want to buy cassettes and laserdiscs, I suppose.

I exaggerate; you can always buy a pay-as-you-go phone -- you have it for emergencies and all the normal smartphone features (apps, games, MP3s, camera, etc) are available for your use without a monthly subscription. I'll admit to being a bit mystified by the fanatic desire to reject evolving technology, but there are workarounds.

[Shagbark Hickory]

24. Yeah but what if you want a good MP3 player? You're not going to get that in

cheap go-phone.

And unlike the subscription fees and contract required to get a decent mobile for a reasonable price, when cassettes and dvds disappeared, it was because there was a better and cheaper alternative. You could fit thousands of songs on a $10 thumb drive.

[seabeyond]

21. my son researched market, chose zune for whatever reason. and is happy with it

but then i dont think they have favored companies and he doesnt go with popular.

personally, i dont know anything about the things...

my other son bought a walkman, sony i think