Microsoft slashes Zune pricing ahead of Apple iPod event

[AppleInsider]

Hours before Apple Inc. is expected to introduce new iPods at a special event in San Francisco, rival Microsoft Corp. has announced that it is dropping the retail price of its 30GB Zune music player to $200.

Electronista points to a posting on Microsoft's Zune Insider blog making note of the $50 cost reduction:

"It's part of the normal product lifecycle, something we’ve had on the books for months," wrote Microsoft's Cesar Menendez. "We just got some research back and customer satisfaction with the 30GB device is really high (around 94 percent) and we expect even more consumers will now want to discover the Zune experience at the new lower price."

The price drop comes shortly after Mindy Mount, the corporate vice president and CFO of Microsoft's entertainment and device division, said that she grades the Zune a "B-" in its current state, noting that the player is doing well, saleswise, for "a product out in less than a year and a half," but that the company is still developing the brand and trying to expand its identity.

It's widely expected that Apple will use its "Beat Goes On" media event later this afternoon to usher in a new breed of Mac OS X-based iPods that with again broaden the gap between the Apple and Microsoft players.

Apple's event begins today at 10:00 a.m. Pacific, 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[M.O.S.T]

Have they sold 1 Million Zunes yet?

[Restalot]

Originally Posted by M.O.S.T

Have they sold 1 Million Zunes yet?

An even more intresting question is did they manufacture a million of them expcting rapid sales and how many do they have sitting in warehouses to sell.

[minderbinder]

Why be good when you can settle for cheap?

[M.O.S.T]

Originally Posted by Restalot

An even more intresting question is did they manufacture a million of them expcting rapid sales and how many do they have sitting in warehouses to sell.

well I did a google on Zune and 'sold' and got-----


Mon May 28, '07 08:55 AM

""According to Robbie Bach, Microsoft's president of the Entertainment and Devices Division, Zune has already met the goal of 1.000.000 players sold, set at launch for the end of June. He also confirms that new Zune things will come in this fall, talks (not) about the Zune Phone, the new Watermelon Red Zune, the Zune Marketplace and of course Xbox 360.""

I am not a Microsoft fan, But good for them-

[didwaniap]

must have sold atleast 50 that means....

[DeaPeaJay]

Wow, I wonder how much this is costing them. Has Microsoft broken even on this flop yet?

[DoctorRobert]

Personally, at this new lower price, I do want to discover the Zune experience. Further, as the brand becomes fully developed and its identity expanded, with--additionally--the product being out more than a year and a half, I would be willing to pay a higher price.

[syklee26]

like couple weeks ago Woot.com was selling white Zune for $149. that's about the right price.

[NOFEER]

YO BABY--apple must have something massive today.......zune is irrelevant, the market knows it as well. go apple go also bodes well for the zunephone.....NOT!

[Rocketmann]

I bought the Zune on opening day with high hopes and promptly learned my lesson. It could've been so much more. So now I eagerly await today's announcements with wallet in hand.

My Zune will go to my wife. As a standalone media player it works fine, so she'll be happy with that.

[Dreil]

CompUSA had dropped the price yesterday, not sure if they'd done it earlier. I talked to their salesmen, they've basically never moved a single one.

[DeaPeaJay]

Originally Posted by DoctorRobert

Personally, at this new lower price, I do want to discover the Zune experience. Further, as the brand becomes fully developed and its identity expanded, with--additionally--the product being out more than a year and a half, I would be willing to pay a higher price.

suit yourself

[anantksundaram]

Zune? What's a Zune?

[DeaPeaJay]

The problem with Zune is that it's a device everyone loves to hate. Whereas the iPod is a device everyone loves to love, unless they are simply afraid of being labeled a lemming instead of judging the iPod on its merits alone.

[SpinDrift]

I have still NEVER seen a Zune in the flesh. Not even in an electronics store, let alone in a persons possession!

[TednDi]

That qualifies as domestic violence.

Don"t zune her.

[backtomac]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

Zune? What's a Zune?

I was wondering the same thing.

[SpinDrift]

Originally Posted by DoctorRobert

Personally, at this new lower price, I do want to discover the Zune experience.

Hahaha.. sorry I don't mean to be rude, but Zune experience? Hahahaha!

[DoctorRobert]

Originally Posted by DeaPeaJay

suit yourself

Too subtle?

[melgross]

The Zune has been selling for $199 for a while at many outlets.

When asked when the Zune would be going to Europe, and the rest of the world, a month or so ago, Ballmer said that doing so at this time would only cost MS more money, and that they wouldn't do that until it became profitable.

Therefore, we may see when, and if, it does become profitable, by MS's international sales policy.

The assumption was that MS was stunned at the last Apple pricing, and was intending to market the Zune for $299 list, but had to drop it to $249 before launch due to Apple's pricing. $249 has been assumed to be a break-even price.

I question whether $199 list will allow MS to recover costs, as not that many have been sold. I've heard the number now might be 1,5 million.

[marzetta7]

<insert dripping sarcasm>Oh my gosh! This must mean that Microsoft is going to dominate the MP3 player market! Ya know, seeing how price trumps all, right Murch? Right, bitemymac?...Are you listening?...</end sarcasm>

I think this announcement by Microsoft can be filed under the "who gives a flying <insert your favorite explecative>".

So, wow. We got the new iPod announcements and CEDIA today. Awesome. Ought to be a good news day, and busy time on the forum.

[parky]

They could try giving them away, see if that helps!

[amac4me]

The price drop makes it less costly to ditch a Zune in the garbage

[DoctorRobert]

Originally Posted by SpinDrift

Hahaha.. sorry I don't mean to be rude, but Zune experience? Hahahaha!

Guys, I'm kidding--it's just very hard for me to believe that people can talk like that, and that a company with such resources and supposedly intelligent people can be so crazy-sounding.

[John the Geek]

Originally Posted by SpinDrift

I have still NEVER seen a Zune in the flesh. Not even in an electronics store, let alone in a persons possession!

Agreed. I see dozens of iPods here on campus daily. Never once in the past year ever seen a Zune.

Seriously. That's pretty sad.

[backtomac]

Originally Posted by melgross

The assumption was that MS was stunned at the last Apple pricing, .

Here's hoping they're more stunned later this evening.

[doxito]

Speaking of the upcoming event, can anyone post some of the sites that will do "live blogging" of the event!? Thanks.

[backtomac]

Originally Posted by SpinDrift

I have still NEVER seen a Zune in the flesh. Not even in an electronics store, let alone in a persons possession!

I did see a pic of this guy with a Zune tattoo.

A walking advertisement for MS.

[DoctorRobert]

Originally Posted by doxito

Speaking of the upcoming event, can anyone post some of the sites that will do "live blogging" of the event!? Thanks.

From macrumors.com:

Live Coverage

The following sites offer text updates (and some have photos).

- Gizmodo
- Engadget
- Macworld
- MacDailyNews
- MacObserver
- ArsTechnica
- SlashGear.com
- Utility Belt
- Svmmac.fr - French
- Cunning.tv - Video?

EDIT: I've found Engadget's coverage to be really good (fast text and good pictures) the past several events

[MacTel]

Give it away for free and I might take one.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by backtomac

Here's hoping they're more stunned later this evening.

I predict tasered.

[Lafe]

Originally Posted by doxito

Speaking of the upcoming event, can anyone post some of the sites that will do "live blogging" of the event!? Thanks.

More specifically, can someone recommend a live blogging site that is dependable?

The last two sites I used to follow these events on-line were horrible.
(They had mysteriously dropped updates, live bloggers who had no skills at all in
basic journalistic elements like spelling or getting key facts into their
terse posts, etc.)

In fact, I'll volunteer to attend these events and blog them in
excellent prose, in real-time, with both wit and candor, if someone
will pay me an exorbitant salary to do so, plus travel expenses,
mac products, snacks, etc.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by M.O.S.T

well I did a google on Zune and 'sold' and got-----


Mon May 28, '07 08:55 AM

""According to Robbie Bach, Microsoft's president of the Entertainment and Devices Division, Zune has already met the goal of 1.000.000 players sold, set at launch for the end of June. He also confirms that new Zune things will come in this fall, talks (not) about the Zune Phone, the new Watermelon Red Zune, the Zune Marketplace and of course Xbox 360.""

I am not a Microsoft fan, But good for them-

That wasn't quite true. That interview was not only had an incorrect transcript, that transcript was often misinterpreted.

"A lot of folks asked me over the weekend about this article in the S.F. Chronicle. Robbie was actually misquoted - you can find an actual recording of the interview here.

So for the record, we haven't made any official announcements on our sales numbers. We are on track, though, to sell one million devices before the end of the fiscal year (June 30). In addition, we've achieved our goal of being the number 2 player in the hard-drive category. "

http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2007/...e-players.aspx

The correct quote:
"When we finish our fiscal year in June we'll have sold a little over a million Zunes."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl.../MICROSOFT.TMP

We haven't heard a peep from them, so it's anyone's guess that the milestone was achieved or not. I think it may be the first time that I've heard of them being happy with a #2 spot.

[vinney57]

$199?! I need to fly over there and get me some turdy brown goodness!

In all seriousness I suspect MS has absolutely no idea what to do next. A Zune phone? Guaranteed bloody disaster compared to a cheap Googlephone and a classy iPhone. XBox Zune? er ZuneTunes store? er HulaZune? er, er...

[vinney57]

Ooh nice catch Jeff.

[eAi]

Originally Posted by Lafe

More specifically, can someone recommend a live blogging site that is dependable?

The last two sites I used to follow these events on-line were horrible.
(They had mysteriously dropped updates, live bloggers who had no skills at all in
basic journalistic elements like spelling or getting key facts into their
terse posts, etc.)

In fact, I'll volunteer to attend these events and blog them in
excellent prose, in real-time, with both wit and candor, if someone
will pay me an exorbitant salary to do so, plus travel expenses,
mac products, snacks, etc.

I've used engadget's coverage - It's been good for the last few events. Most of the other sites either just copy engadget's or make it up (as far as I can tell!)

[Royboy]

Without any competition, then Apple will become a company without any incentive to bring new technology to the market and to lower prices. So hopefully Apple will bring better products to the marketplace and at lower prices. For those who want Apple's technology and pricing to remain high (or the same), then pray for Apple to crush any competition. I think we've seen that before. If Windows had any true competition, would it be as bad as most Mac people say that it is?

[roehlstation]

Originally Posted by Restalot

An even more intresting question is did they manufacture a million of them expcting rapid sales and how many do they have sitting in warehouses to sell.

I know our store bought 300 of them for last Christmas, we ended up sending 250 back to the supplier because we only sold 25 and 15 of those were returned by the customers to get iPods.

[bdkennedy1]

"we expect even more consumers will now want to discover the Zune experience at the new lower price."

LOL