What a shame. Zune is so much better than ipod… from the desktop Zune software, to the concept of Zune social, to their monthly fee all-you-can-eat plan to its form factor to its features. It is one of those (rare?) things which Microsoft did indeed get right, albeit too late.

Does it really make any sense to have a $200 Zune (only slightly less than a Wii) side by side with hundreds and hundreds of used games? The only reason people whore out at GameStop stores is because it’s the cheapest physical store to get games.

way to make something out of nothing.

i shop at GAMEstop frequently for GAMES and i didn’t even notice they sell zunes.

i highly doubt they sold a large number of zunes.

did you even check the number of zunes sold by gamespot, before callin this a big blow for microsoft ???

but i guess you don’t have to, since you are only blogging.

Those sales numbers are almost as embarrassing as Erick’s chronic inability to spell properly…

Obviously.. whoever has made this piece doesn’t understand the competition

Wow! Another Apple Fanboy post.

Next headline from Erick Schonfeld: Jamba Juice Dumps the Zune Because Nobody Wants It

What does this have ANYTHING to do with startups. The only reason you are posting this is because of the rampant anti-MS nonsense this blog is full of.

Are you so anti-Microsoft that you can’t even bother to run a spell check using Word before posting?

The zune is the betamax of the mp3 market. Technically superior but unlikely that it will ever be as widely adopted as its competitor. MS entered the market way too late in the mp3 product life cycle.

What a shame. Zune is so much better than ipod… from the desktop Zune software, to the concept of Zune social, to their monthly fee all-you-can-eat plan to its form factor to its features. It is one of those (rare?) things which Microsoft did indeed get right, albeit too late.

Really? You honestly think that the Zune software is good?? Are you on crack??

Have you even seen the Zune installer? I’d rather stick a fork in my eye:
http://engadget.com/2006/11/13.....ne-sucked/

Don’t you think that the market would have figured it out on its own. Don’t you think that if the Zune really were a terrific product that more than 2 Million consumers would rally around it??

Seriously. The Zune sucks big time. Everybody knows it and the market confirms it.

In fact, I bet if you polled Microsoft employees, there are probably more Microsoft employees own an iPod than a Zune. That’s how bad the Zune is.

thanks

Thing sucks!!

I really like my iPods and I’ve never held a Zune in my hand so I can’t comment on how they compare. But on the business side of things I don’t think that MS is going to give up on this. Look at the XBOX. At first they really suffered from Sony’s market dominance and now thy are at least on par. With the latest trends on search we soon might get payed to listen to music on Zunes (btw does anyone like that name?)

Peter
do you follow me @ http://twitter.com/peterurban

hmmmm, looks like zune didn’t live up to microsoft’s reputation of copying successfull products and crushing them.

Funny you guys only seem to comment about hardware when it is the zune or iPhone.

btw - How many iPods does gamestop sell a year? Oh that’s right NONE. They don’t sell them. Perhaps people don’t go to gamestop to buy mp3 players? Seems like if they did you want to be selling the iPod. No? Also seems like even a “reporter” would note that they don’t sell iPods. You know, for just a smidgen of context maybe? The zune can be called a failure but a little more context in this case might be relevant. Anyone? Guess not. I’d suggest the atari route for your almost always half-assed posts.

I work in a small retail store and my boss will frequently bring in new merchandise to sell. Not because it fits in with our usual retail mix or because he has researched it but simply on whim. These little experiments of his never work and after a while we can them.
The Zune may be just the wrong product to sell in an gaming store.
Jim

Gamestop sells MP3 players? That’s a bad fit.

I will be disappointed if the Zune dies as it is so much nicer than my iPod (5G). It’s definately driving some innovation into the scene and the free updates are always nice.

I looked at the old zune and it sucked. when i was in the market for a new mp3 player, i researched the new zune and it got great reviews which compelled me to purchase one. Its definitely in a market it has no chance of winning, but I was extremely impressed by it.

Don’t care about the market, and i’m not swayed by opinions or the masses. For the money the latest zune is pretty cool. It was a market MS put it’s chips in and lost. Worth a shot though.

I sold my used Zune on eBay for $180 a couple months ago. If you look on eBay, even the brown, 1st generation Zunes are still selling for over $150. I did like it better for its screen, wifi, radio (it displays the name of a song the station’s playing), but the thing didn’t display asian characters, which was a deal breaker for me. But for most Americans, the Zune is actually a superior player in many ways.

I have a question for all of you who are saying the Zune is total shit: Have you ever actually used one? It’s just as good, if not better than the iPod. The reason the iPod and Apple are still on top is because they’ve convinced people that paying 200 dollars for 8 gigs is a good deal when for 200 dollars you can get a 16 gb Sansa, and for only 50 dollars more a 32 gb one which is 4 times the capacity for 50 bucks. Apple’s ridiculous prices are what keep me away from it, in addition to my dislike for iTunes and DRM. TechCrunch and Engadget are known Apple fanboys and hate Microsoft, we all knew that.
Way to have unbiased reviews on a blog, it’s no wonder the media doesn’t accept or respect bloggers.

I, for one, think the Zune sales numbers are respectable.

Similarly to how Samsung and LG conquered U.S. cell phone market share, Zune sales could be inching up slowly but surely.

“Gamestop sells MP3 players? That’s a bad fit.

I will be disappointed if the Zune dies as it is so much nicer than my iPod (5G). It’s definately driving some innovation into the scene and the free updates are always nice.”

I agree, I have had a Zune since they were first introduced in November of ‘06. I had several iPods previously but they had either broken or were scratched to the point where I didn’t like to carry it outside.

My Zune’s are so much more durable and I love the Wi-Fi. I think it’s mostly people who have no idea what they’re talking about who have the most to say against the Zune. However, owners of the Zune are some of the most loyal customers for any brand.

- UMB

Lemme see,

First anti-M$ post I see in a looooong time and all M$ astroturfers are whining about how anti-M$ this M$ propaganda outlet is?

THANKS ERICK!!!!!!

The zune is a POS and it was DOA!

Btw, let me explain to you the zune selling numbers:

60k zunes in M$ employees forced to buy it or face expulsion
Everyone buys 5 zunes ass kissing their boss expecting a raise.
100k zunes in giveaways for promotions and contests.
Multiply by 5 as we all know statistics are always inflated .

There you have it, 2 million zunes in the pockets of nobody.

Except M$droids!

That’s a shame. Zune is way better than the iPod. I love my 80GB Zune.

I actually bought one of the 30GB refurbs because it was a good deal. Add in the free upgrade to the latest firmware and finally getting reasonably functional Zune software with 2.5 and it was a good decision. Finding any 30GB media player for < $100 is pretty hard to do (or at least it was earlier this year).

I have seen the iPods, never really used them. They’re slick, but for my purposes are overpriced. The Zune does what it does well and so far is the only player that I know of offering a subscription model. Sure that’s not everyone’s choice, but $15/month to listen to whatever I want to or $10 for a single album makes a difference for some. If you’re going to spend that money anyway, I’d lean towards that $15/month just to have access to whatever you want to listen to. (And yes - DRM, Subscriptions, blah blah - I understand that they’re not for everyone and that you don’t actually own the music - kind of like netflix.)

I did find it kind of sad that this is newsworthy considering the above poster mentioning that GameStop doesn’t sell iPods either. Personally, I go to Gamestop for Games and possibly a DVD if they have a decent deal. For media players I look elsewhere.

Deathwatch? Because a video game store has stopped selling an mp3 player? How is that news? I’m in the market for a Zune and never would have considered purchasing one at GameStop - that says something about the store, not the product.

I’d usually hold Erick’s articles in fairly high regard, but I can’t really defend this. This really doesn’t look good alongside Gillmor’s incoherent anti-Microsoft rant from a few days ago.

This blog is full of Mactards.

THIS JUST IN: VIDEOGAME STORE STOPS SELLING NON-GAMING PRODUCT.

Yawn. Come on, TC.

Can Microsoft bury all copies of Vista in a landfill along with the Zune, just like Atari did with the E.T. cartridges? Both Vista and the Zune are big mistakes. Zune may be better, but poorly marketed.

I love my Black Zune 30, I’ve owned it since the day it came out in November 2006. I’ve also had the Zune pass since then, and it’s a great deal.

I agree with the comments pointing out that GameStop doesn’t sell Mp3 players. They don’t carry the ipod, it was weird that they started carrying the zune in the first place. Probably jumped on the bandwagon when it was selling out everywhere so they were guaranteed business, and when the stock caught up they get out. No surprise here.

I have owned an 80GB Zune for three months. I bought the AV dock…and
there is nothing better than waking up and finding all your podcasts downloaded and wirelessly synched. (full disclosure - bug in latest software causes duplication of synchs). I live in a small apartment and not having wires around is the way forward
I love watching video podcasts on my TV with the remote (I wish that that the interface had higher definition). The quality on the 40″ LCD is somewhere between 480p and 780p as a rule (of course it’s all down to the podcast)
It just works.

Craig Ferguson said it best: the Zune is Bill Gates’ attempt to loosen iPod’s stranglehold on the iPod market. LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5ENLm0JsQw

In other words, the game is over. People already like what the iPod does and the way it works. People like their iPods. Not many people are complaining about them. So, you’re not going to get the majority of people to buy something else that does not work like an iPod, even if you add a new feature or two.

Eric, your fanboyism is really epic. Zune has received a lot of good things lately:

- It gained market share. From 2% to 4%? is that bad at all?

- Zune sites are now receiving more traffic than before.

- Zune sites are gaining users and adding functionalities. Zuneboard reached 50,000 users and recently launched the zunetv.net

Now, Gamestop –a VIDEO GAME retailer– stops selling Zune, you act like you’ve been right all along. You haven’t even tried the product and you you’re giving it a thumbs down verdict already? You’re an idiot. I can’t believe TC hired you.

I have never been much of a person for purpose mobile devices, something about the bulk just never made me want one. I have bought several mind you, but never have I had my switch lit by any of them. I have Gen5 ipod video, iPod classic, Media Center Portables (the Zen and the the Samsung one), numerous flash based mp3/whatever players, and some others that don’t really stand out, and they all faced the same problem for me:

I don’t wanna pack the extra shit around.

convergence convergence convergence damn you all!!!

That said, the wireless sync on the zune over my wifi network is really cool. I do like plugging in the zune to charge and initiating a wireless sync without having to leave it plugged into my laptop.

Zune desktop app is the worst thing I can imagine, but I rarely am forced to use it so works out ok for me.

This is way late but I’ve actually used a zune and a 5G ipod and IMO zunes suck.
All the arguments against iPod are pretty moot in my case because (1) I’ve pirated most of my music, so no DRM to speak of and (2) I use WinAMP to sync my music because, yes, itunes sucks balls (the only downside is that I can’t sync videos, which is really impractical for the battery life anyway)

Anpther thing is that the iPod was surprisingly easy to fix, the headphone jack was starting to get screwy so I cracked open my iPod to see if fucking with it would fix it, I broke the connecting ribbon and then ordered a new headphone jack, unscrewed the old jack, put the new one in and that was it, doesn’t really matter to the average consumer but I thought it was cool.

OMG, for anyone who loves the zune, I am somewhat suspicious. I am on this board because I am waiting for Windows to update. What does a windows update have to do with a Zune? Exactly! I had spent the 1hour and a half to install the crappy zune software just to be able to transfer music to my zune. Now I finished a clean install of xp pro and wanted to add music to the Zune. So I attempted to install the zune software once again onto my new computer…guess what, I can’t put music on my Zune because Windows, on my desktop, needs to be updated. I still don’t know what portion of the windows updates that I need in order to be able to use the zune software. And after the hour of installing Windows updates, I then get to spend another hour with the ridiculously crappy software interface to transfer music that already resides on my computer, onto my zune. Zune is mediocre, the interface is pure torture and the useablitility and utility of the zune are horrendous. The zune is a piece of crap. Any of you geniuses want a seldomly used zune, I’ll trade is straight across for a 30g Ipod.