Zune to be priced at $249 or less?

Perhaps those rumors of Microsoft re-jiggering their Zune pricetag after catching wind of the iPod price drop are true after all. Zune team member David Caulton has come out with a word on his Zune blog stating that "Zune won't be undercut on price by iPod," in response to a commenter who stated they'd heard the Zune was going to be pricier than the iPod. It's not exactly explicit, but we're not quite sure how much more strongly he could hint at a $249-or-less Zune price without ripping his NDA to shreds. In fact, David's straight-up statement might be its biggest detractor -- we'd be surprised someone with full-on insider info could actually manage to get out a word like this without a few men in black suites taking him down.

[Via PVR Wire]

[Matt @ Sep 20th 2006 11:00AM]

Yay for price wars!

[Lou @ Sep 20th 2006 11:02AM]

Thicker, less battery life, probably more DRM. They are going to have to come up with more than WiFi and price cuts to make me want this thing.

[Jonathan Sundy @ Sep 20th 2006 11:33AM]

Larger screen, not apple (you know that's a plus to some people), subscription service AND single song model (i'd prefer the subscription service personally), possibly less restrictive drm (in regards to sharing it across multiple devices and platforms, but this is yet to be clarified), and the potential for added software enhancements without the need to purchase a new generation of the device.

It has it's perks.

I don't believe it's the killer device it was hoped to be (stupid thickness and battery life) but I do feel it's a good start.

[Phil @ Sep 20th 2006 11:05AM]

$249. I'm in. Amazing how consumers get the advantage when companies compete, but when there's a strong hold on a particular market, consumers get screwed. Ah, the joys of capitalism.

[Cameron Bell @ Sep 20th 2006 11:13AM]

I could stand to part with 249 small ones.

[Nodnetni @ Sep 20th 2006 11:16AM]

249 or less, hummm.... wii?, hmmmm.... It will probably be $248.99.

[Nick @ Sep 20th 2006 11:20AM]

It would be great if Microsoft came out and was a real competitor with Apple. I'd love to see how things fair if the products are the same price.

[Gonzalo @ Sep 20th 2006 11:23AM]

thats good news, I'm sure if microsoft wants to compete with Ipod they're going to have to make the right price ,considering the ipods price drop. I'm getting a zune if it's no more than $250.

[pak150 @ Sep 20th 2006 11:23AM]

Loss leader!

[Scabies @ Sep 20th 2006 11:24AM]

Suck it, Blue!

While bending to price wars may seem kind of cowardly, by all means go for it!

[Kaemon @ Sep 20th 2006 11:25AM]

249 is a decent price I supose... I would like to see this succed, if only for my intense dislike of seeing ever person with those annoying Ipods.... But yeah, 249 seems reasonable.

[zainali @ Sep 20th 2006 11:25AM]

msft should make it 199.99 or even 149.99. i mean they are losing billions on the xbox and 360. why not lose more on this and "break into" the portable entertainment market.

then once they have a monopoly they can price gouge, lol.

[Jonathan Sundy @ Sep 20th 2006 11:38AM]

Music services currently seem to have a different model than video game consoles.

On Apple's example, they make very little too nothing selling songs but a hefty profit selling their music devices.

I don't know if Microsoft is doing anything so drastically different that they could cut a respectable profit on their music itself where Apple hasn't.

[ian spain @ Sep 20th 2006 11:27AM]

I would probably drop 250 on a Zune. The new iPods have left me unimpressed.

[Bryan @ Sep 20th 2006 11:33AM]

"In fact, David's straight-up statement might be its biggest detractor -- we'd be surprised someone with full-on insider info could actually manage to get out a word like this without a few men in black suites taking him down."

David seems to be in a good position to comment on strategy versus the competition, but there�s enough ambiguity in his statement to leave thing open. E.g. How does one value extra features?

[obby @ Sep 20th 2006 11:36AM]

$249 better be the largest capacity, otherwise it can kiss my spotty little arse.

btw - brown kicks ass

[Brad @ Sep 20th 2006 11:44AM]

But this is Microsoft, who can follow the "lose money on the product, lose money on the services" business model and still do OK.

[Jeff @ Sep 20th 2006 11:45AM]

"I would probably drop 250 on a Zune. The new iPods have left me unimpressed."

So, you'd pay the same price for a device with shorter battery life, more bulk, more restrictive DRM and a "sharing" service that DRMs all your previously un-DRM'd files?

The Zune needs to be priced at $199 to have any chance. At $299, it's DOA vs. iPod. At $249, MS has to compete on features, and so far all of their "extra" features have some pretty major gotchas attached - some of which make the device actually *less* useful than if it didn't have those features at all (I'm looking at you, wi-fi DRM). Meanwhile, it's bigger than the iPod and has poorer battery life. At $199, MS could at least compete on price and claim to have Apple beat on value. That's more or less been their winning strategy in the PC market.

The only way MS can succeed at this is by turning mp3 players into commodities. They cannot succeed trying to beat Apple at their own game in the premium product category. What they *should* be doing is trying to make mp3 players ubiquitous, cheap and non-specific. That would totally take the wind out of Apple's sails (and sales), just as it did with operating systems.

But all the Zune is doing is inviting iPod comparisons and validating Apple's strategy as the right one, and the one to copy. Given that, most people are not going to see any reason to switch at a higher or even the same price.

[T0E TAGG3R @ Sep 20th 2006 11:51AM]

I never bought an ipod simply because its apple. Ive been waiting 5 years for microsoft to come out with this. I am not partial to microsoft, but seeing how I have a mediacenter PC, a mediacenter extender, and a X360, I wouldn't mind buying this product so all my products work in harmony.

If I had an apple computer I would've definately bought an ipod.

[Chris @ Sep 20th 2006 11:59AM]

This is all very stupid. These arguments, I mean.

I think Zune will be successful. But only because it's copying a model that works (Microsoft's specialty), adding features to an already existing product (which isn't innovation, it's just adding features), and that it's the "anti-iPod."

Any credit given to Microsoft for finally getting a successful competitor to the iPod needs to be scaled back. While I'm feeling pretty certain Zune will be successful there's still a very reall possibility it will fall flat on its face. And Apple does have a few tricks up its sleeve should the Zune prove to be successful.

Why does everyone get so emotional about this topic? You like the Creative Zen Vision? Good. Use it. And shut up about it.

[haythem @ Sep 20th 2006 12:19PM]

now we're talkin

[Zenprime @ Sep 20th 2006 12:29PM]

That's the brown? Gotta love that green sheen, can't wait to see the black.

I was trying to decide between an Ipod and the Sansa before, but I find the Ipod visually repellent, an hearing that Sandisk and Real are in bed together is enough to make me steer away. I am so glad the Zune came out. Zune isn't an Ipod killer, it's MS's Coke to Apple's Pepsi.

[Brian @ Sep 20th 2006 12:36PM]

Yeah, I have a hard time believing people will buy one of these, especially when you consider how craptastic most of the Microsoft music management software has been.

$249? An interesting price point, but as someone who thinks the 80GB iPod is too portly, I think people are also going to heavily choose based on size.

[Matt @ Sep 20th 2006 1:26PM]

How can you have a hard time believing anyone will buy one when there are multiple people here saying they will buy one? If it's 250 or under (I'm going to go with 225 right now, enough of a difference to validate saving money, but not enough for them to lose a signifigant amount) and sounds better than an ipod (won't be hard to do), I'll definintly be buying one. The subscription service sounds great too, though I'm waiting on pricing before deciding if it will be a good selling feature or not.

[Phil @ Sep 20th 2006 1:49PM]

" ...especially when you consider how craptastic most of the Microsoft music management software has been. "

And iTunes is no trip to Hollywood, talk about one of the PC World's number 1 bloat-ware applications.

In other terms, I'd happily pay for just the WMA support on the Zune so I wouldn't have to convert all my WMA to MP3 just so it can live happily on the iPod. And about the comment above about DRM, at the end of the day, as long as the files are DRM-less from the source, I'm not too terribly concerned. This sort of device-specific DRM doesn't really harm anybody except for those who are trying to load music onto their friend's Zunes.

Plus, the subscription-based service is exactly what I like, versus craptastic $0.99c downloads from favorite teen heart-throbs such as Beyonce. Maybe it's just me, but I'm keen to the more independant approach that the Zune Marketplace is taking in regards to their artists.

[denigod @ Sep 20th 2006 1:05PM]

Do you mean black Suits? Because dudes in black suites doesn't seem too intimidating . . . just sitting there . . . in their suites. . . .

[Jason @ Sep 20th 2006 1:13PM]

Sweet even more reason to pick one up. Something other than an ipod with actual product support. Ill take the brown one please. Can't wait till it gets hacked wide open and extra functionality added. Bring on competition!!!

[zenprime @ Sep 20th 2006 1:39PM]

So will the Zune work the rest of Microsoft PlaysForSure partners? Because if so, consumers will have a lot more options for buying music.

[cyberdork @ Sep 20th 2006 2:16PM]

So this is all based on a random blog writing half a sentence in italics? Give me a break!

[compson @ Sep 20th 2006 2:19PM]

come on folks. read this critically.

"Zune won't be undercut on price by iPod,"

he didn't say it won't cost more, he just said it won't be undercut.

that is lawyerspeak for "Our unit might cost more out of the box, but LOOK at all the cool things it does that iPod can't even dream of. Zune is a better value for the cost."

personally, i think its illadvised for microsoft even to try, but you have to give him points for being crafty.

[Jason @ Sep 20th 2006 2:24PM]

@ toe tagg3r - my ipod works just fine with my pc. I'd wager than the majority of ipod owners have pcs, not macs. I don't see how what OS you use makes any difference to which DAP you choose.

[Jesse @ Sep 20th 2006 3:39PM]

Does anyone know if the Zune has been noted for having Mass Storage Device (UMS) support? If so it pretty much has my money with a pricepoint of $250

[Kemikal Burn @ Sep 20th 2006 3:51PM]

I have been saying for some time that Microsoft won't stand a chance against Apple unless it matches (or beats) Apple's price.

"...their "extra" features have some pretty major gotchas attached - some of which make the device actually *less* useful than if it didn't have those features at all (I'm looking at you, wi-fi DRM)." -Jeff

I fail to see how DRM hampers the music sharing capabilities. If Microsoft didn't DRM the music when it was shared, they would lose out on tons of money because people would use Zunes like a portable P2P program. This WiFi sharing is actually my favorite Zune feature, perhaps because I'm a high school senior who's going on to college. I see this feature as being best implemented in this kind of social environment.

I can tell my friend "Hey, I got that new Muse single, do you wanna hear it?" Then I can easily send it to him and he can decide if it's worth buying (or illegally downloading, but I know that no Engadgeteer would ever do such a thing. Cough.) This is obviously what Microsoft is intending the WiFi to be used for. People can sample their friends' libraries, goto the Zune Store, and buy the songs there. Would I? No, I buy CDs. But I still find the idea very intriguing.

Also, I see the Zune like Xbox Live. It has taken several years and multiple versions for Xbox Live to become the service that it is today, and know it is truly incredible. We can do things online that seemed to be a dream on the last generation. I can log on Live, see what my neighbor is playing, download new game demos and movie trailers, play downloaded Xbox Live Arcade games, engage in a video chat with a friend, then go on Project Gotham and watch the top world players while they race. I haven't even gotten to actual gameplay features like clans, rankings, etc.

I imagine Zune will take a similar approach, where over several implementations, it will achieve features that we'll drool over. It will probably expand the WiFi to new extremes, maybe letting us listen to online radio stations, automatically downloading podcasts and firmware updates, etc. I see great potential in Zune, greater than "let's add a brighter screen" Apple.

And if you're wondering, I currently use a Zen Vision:M. I will buy a Zune if it A) Adds DivX support (which all of my shows are in), B) Increases battery life to at least 15 hrs audio/ 4 hrs video, and C) Becomes thinner. My Vision's girth has always bothered me.

[jbhitter24 @ Sep 20th 2006 4:40PM]

@ jeff

"So, you'd pay the same price for a device with shorter battery life, more bulk, more restrictive DRM and a "sharing" service that DRMs all your previously un-DRM'd files?"

you would have an argument if the zune was as featureless as the ipod but its not. shorter
battery life? noone listens to their player for 12 hours straight, just plug it in. more
bulk? well, from the pictures it looks to be perfect, the ipod is to thin to comfortably hold, especially if you hold for a while for a movie. the zen v:m is just too thick.
restrictive drm? make sure you know what your talking about. check www.zunester.com, according to the author (and insider with the whole project) the 3*3 thing does not drm your songs. it just keeps them from playing after the 3*3 is up.

not to mention you fail to mention the massive amount of features that the zune has. bigger and better screen, an fm radio (an idustry standard, but apple just want to continue to milk all the accessory profits), and wifi, which is a big plus as Kemikal Burn has said.

take all that into account, as well as the fact that more codecs are on the way (ogg, flac, and divx(well i think divx), dont believe me go to www.zunester.com. not to mention the seemless zune=marketplace connection and then say you would rather have an ipod for the same price.

[jbhitter24 @ Sep 20th 2006 4:42PM]

@ jeff

"So, you'd pay the same price for a device with shorter battery life, more bulk, more restrictive DRM and a "sharing" service that DRMs all your previously un-DRM'd files?"

you would have an argument if the zune was as featureless as the ipod but its not. shorter
battery life? noone listens to their player for 12 hours straight, just plug it in. more
bulk? well, from the pictures it looks to be perfect, the ipod is to thin to comfortably hold, especially if you hold for a while for a movie. the zen v:m is just too thick.
restrictive drm? make sure you know what your talking about. check www.zunester.com, according to the author (and insider with the whole project) the 3*3 thing does not drm your songs. it just keeps them from playing after the 3*3 is up.

not to mention you fail to mention the massive amount of features that the zune has. bigger and better screen, an fm radio (an idustry standard, but apple just want to continue to milk all the accessory profits), and wifi, which is a big plus as Kemikal Burn has said.

take all that into account, as well as the fact that more codecs are on the way (ogg, flac, and divx(well i think divx), dont believe me go to www.zunester.com. not to mention the seemless zune=marketplace connection and then say you would rather have an ipod for the same price.

[Ig @ Sep 20th 2006 5:24PM]

That brown is so hideous, I want one just for the uncoolness factor alone.

Ogg and Flac support via firmware upgrades is great news!

[Rivendale @ Sep 20th 2006 6:00PM]

The Zune is going to be perfect and slowly grow and become a huge competitor to the boring and tired iPod...

People want things that are different; ridiculous amount of people have iPods, but even here at my college I've noticed just in the last year that a lot more non-iPod players have started to pop up in what was an almost complete iPod dominance...

Once Vista comes out, the connected entertainment that MS is going to offer is going to be amazing. Easy streaming of media from PCs to 360s to Zunes to Windows-capable cellphones is going to be huge...

[MarcelV @ Sep 21st 2006 4:24AM]

"People want things that are different; ridiculous amount of people have iPods"

But then, you're explaining how great this will be when Vista comes out. Market domination as argument not to buy a product? You contradict yourself!

[tekdemon @ Sep 20th 2006 6:25PM]

At $249...I think I'm in...
I kinda wanted one but wasn't sure about the pricing, but if they can match Apple's cuts and bring the bigger screen I'm game.

[Molly C @ Sep 20th 2006 6:29PM]

For all the bluster that iPod fanboys spout about how great and invincible the iPod is, the iPod fanboys are absolutely scared to death of Zune. So much so that they're desperately trying to FUD it to death before it's even released! LOL

[Jeff @ Sep 20th 2006 8:21PM]

One of the largest advantages MS will have over Apple is their willingness to throw money at problems.

MS will most likely be willing to take a $200 hit for ever unit sold if it means marketshare.

i have a feeling this "competition" will have very little to do with merits, and more to do with MS flexing their capital.

[noonas @ Sep 20th 2006 9:34PM]

BBbwwffaahahahaha!!

Do the x-box thing and eat the larger part of the cost to get market-share..

If they would adopt the same DRM schema as Apple does the maybe, just maybe they would have a snow-ball in hell's chanse.
Windows DRM is far more restricting and in-your-face than apples.. this is why they have failed the last 10 years

[maest @ Sep 20th 2006 9:35PM]

Band of Horses, aye?

[shaliron @ Sep 21st 2006 3:21AM]

Well at $249, it seems like real good value for 30GB of space. Especially in an everyday comsumer's eyes. Thing is, how is Microsoft going to price point the rest of the Zune family. Like the nano version of the Zune. What's the price of the 8GB flash memory Zune going to be?
Better be cheap, cos Apple have lost it in this regard. Selling their exclusive black 8GB nano for the same price as a 30GB iPod is suicide for the Nano. Wonder if Microsoft will fall into the same trap...

[Wil @ Sep 21st 2006 10:07AM]

I just wish a company would finally make a touchscreen player so they whole front could be a display. All you need is a few hard buttons and a hold switch to prevent unwanted presses on the screen.

[ipicu @ Sep 21st 2006 10:51AM]

Whatevs. I am betting it will have lots of cool features on paper, but everything will be so jumbled and hard to use that I would be sorry if I bought it.

[ipicu @ Sep 21st 2006 10:52AM]

On second thought, maybe I will wait until they are $149 on woot or something. I mean, how bad could it be?

[h0mi @ Sep 21st 2006 12:45PM]

I'm unclear about something. So I buy a zune... am I forced to use Zune Marketplace or can I use Napster et al with it?

[Grutt @ Sep 21st 2006 10:28PM]

250-No Way I The GameStop Guy Told Me 280
ALSO AMAZON HAS ONLY A 30GB Version that is UNAVALIBLE- NOTHING ELSE!

[Jayhawk @ Sep 22nd 2006 7:37PM]

Since Microsoft has deep pockets, they should aggressively price the Zune even if they lose money initially just to start developing a user base. I will buy a Zune depending on the price.
$299? No way.....
$250? Maybe......
less than $250? Very likely....

Jayhawk