Microsoft sells one million Zunes
By Donald Melanson 
posted May 28th 2007 11:45AM
posted May 28th 2007 11:45AM
It may not seem like all that much given Apple's recent announcement that it's sold 100 million iPods, but Microsoft seems to be content with the one million Zunes it has sold so far (or will have sold by the end of June), which meets the sales target set at the Zune's launch. That tidbit of information comes from Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, who told the San Francisco Chronicle that the company has sold "a little over a million Zunes," reportedly giving it a 10% share in the hard disk-based player category. While Bach sees that as a "good start" he admits that the Zune hasn't quite gotten as social as the company would like, saying that "when your installed base is a million, the benefits of sharing, frankly, aren't as wide as we hope to see in the future." Unfortunately, Bach didn't get very specific about any future Zune plans, choosing instead to talk up the pink and watermelon-colored Zunes, which'll surely make all the difference.[Via Zune-Online.com, thanks Nate W]
@Random:
The same can be said to this: How many ipod users have had to buy a new one after it broke? I can bet a TON.
100 million ipods is the total amount of ipods sold since the player was introduced 6 years ago. This includes sales of 1,2,3,4,5,5.5 g ipods, the 1,2 g ipod shuffle, ipod nano and ipod mini combined over this period. The 1 million zunes is for the 1g zune only. If the current amount of HDD based player market is 10 million (people replace their old ipods) then zune indeed has 10%.
The 100million ipod figure is for worldwide sales, the zune is only available in the US. Ipods are not the only company that make HD players- there are creative, iriver, sony etc. Why do you find it hard to believe, the statistics don't lie. Think of the amount of nanos and shuffles sold that aren't HD.
@tundraboi: You write, slamming MS, about products that are only "low-glamour, high-function software." Thanks for illustrating what it is NOT to be a geek. Gotta stay away from that high functioning software.
@mike: Apple began counting its iPod sales in November, 2001, to get that 100 million figure, which includes all iPod & nano models. This article was based on an interview with Robbie Bach (prez of MS Entertainment & Devices). In it he says: "In the category we're in, the hard-disk-based category, we've got about 10 percent market share. It's a good start. It's not an overwhelming start. I'm not going to pretend it's some gigantic move." The following string of letters is called a citation: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/28/MICROSOFT.TMP
@Zoinks: why don't you go look up mac mini sales? Go ahead and good luck. Apple has consistently suppressed any figures or lumped them into aggregate sales of other products. I'll leave it to you to guess the reason. All other reports of mac mini sales are descriptive only.
Disclaimer: I have an iPod 30 GB and a Sanza e280 8GB I picked up for $160, so I could have subscription music. Why do I have the iPod? Because it's best of breed.
It's the sheer, unrelenting stupidity of applets that gets me. Why can't you advance your point about the relative merits of Apple without having to resort to declarations of corporate loving, fact-free, ignorance? You might also want to take a look (as others have pointed out) the benefits of competition to the consumer.
Even though facts are "low glamour," they can be interesting. Good luck!
@crescentdavid "Why do I have the iPod? Because it's best of breed."
LMAO...if you really think its the best...you're one something... check out Archos products, they truly are the best of the breed.
http://www.archos.com
I own a Archos AV500 and ITS the best on the market (well until the new Archos products came in). The price, yeah its expensive, but everything thats the best is always expensive. If you find someting better than archos, than let me know ;)
People seem to be a little confused with the business of 1 million zunes/100 million ipods/10% market share. I'm a professional statistician (yes we do exist) and I think that the mistakes people are making are as follows:
Firstly, Microsoft's Robbie Bach said Market Share, which many people seem to be mistaking for Installed Base. Market Share refers to the percentage of a vendor's sales over a specified time period, say one month or a quarter, whilst Installed Base refers to total sales for that vendor. Often the caveat that the product should be in use is included when talking about installed base, though product lifetimes are often difficult to judge. It is therefore likely that Microsoft is talking about the latest month's data or possibly Q1'07. The difficulty with smaller time frames is that fewer total products have been sold and the standard deviation (variation) of individual vendor's results is large.
Secondly, Microsoft chose the market to which they were refering wisely. Speaking of the worldwide market would make no sense, as the Zune has not yet been released in either Europe or Asia, both very large markets. Similarly, they spoke of only HD music players as the Zune is a HD player.
Finally, more often than not, Microsoft uses data from NPD (most US big box stores) which includes neither the Apple online store nor their many retail stores. Steve 'Developers!' Ballmer hilariously claims that the Zune has '20-25%' market share in this interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oGaZIKYvo&eurl= Not to put too fine a point on it, the man really is a prat.
Also, Zune has has 10% of the HARD drive market share. "100 million ipods" includes all the non-hard drive nanos and shuffles.
Still, I'm impressed they were able to sell a million units.
You are the idiot. You claim to be a professional statistician but you don't even have a clue about NPD (a major statistics company). Basically you've completely lied about NPD claiming that they don't take into account apple stores and online-this is a common myth made up by apple fanboys. The fact is they do take into account ALL apple stores (online shop too). What they don't take into account is walmart stores where the zune is actually sold:
http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2007/05/01/what-i-learned-about-npd.aspx
blah blah blah. i bought my 1G ipod right after they came out, and i'm still using it. i've never seen a zune in the wild, but i see ipods every single day. if anyone wants a zune, they're welcome to it, can't use it with my mac. i'd like to see a comparison between number of comments and whether the post is about apple, ipods or the zune. seems like fanboys on both sides are just waiting to pounce on a related post...
(even me)
I love my Zune. I'm glad to see it progressing. I think all that Microsoft needs to do is to make the wireless so that it can't be synced onto the computer, but rather only played on the Zune; that'd make more sense. After that, we need podcasting and Videos. I don't think we need games on the Zune, that's what my 360's for. I don't know if we need wireless syncing or any of that, but I would like to wirelessly listen to music on my 360 through my Zune. And last, I think we need a clock to show up next to the "Wireless on" symbol, and an easier way to classify what type of videos I have, etc.
You aren't missing much on AM radio, it's been taken over by crazy fundamentalist Christians.
Your comments: not sure what your talking about...but AM radio is still good, not only do you have your espn on there, where you go to listen to agame (when your not a by a tv).
But a BIG reason why I like AM is cause theres talk radio, I like to listen to people like: Greg Belfrage, Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, &Rush Limbaugh.
Thanks for the 'constructive' criticism, did you start foaming at the mouth during or after reading my original post? I was simply explaining the differences between the market share numbers and sales figures, and as I wrote "Speaking of the worldwide market would make no sense". I could also point out that NPD are a market research company, but that would be arguing semantics. As Benjamin Disraeli put it so succinctly, the are three types of lies, lies, damned lies and statistics.
Whilst you are correct in stating that they now include Apple stores data the latest information that I could find is a Bloomberg report at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=AAPL:US&sid=aZ10DCwhy1Xo which puts Zune at a 2.5% market share for March of all mp3 players sold through bricks and mortar stores (which does not include the Apple online store) and uses US data only. The Microsoft FUD spouting Paul Thurrott cannot generally be relied upon for reliable information, in my experience.
As you put it, I'm the idiot, so you should take this all with a pinch of salt. The straight facts I can give you are that I'm a risk analyst, I use statistics every day, and have three Mathematics degrees (BSc, MPhil, PhD). But don't listen to idiots like me...
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZune.
"That would mean about 90 million iPods sold are flash based, which I am having a hard time believing."
So MS is lying. Again. These are the people that told us Vista would be built from the ground up for Internet Security.
@jared: reading comprehension. All the HDD based video playing ipod vs. HDD based video playing Zune. The market is the US of America since the Zune is not released worldwide. 10% of the USA marketshare. do you understand now ?
@bob E: I agree. 4millions+ by Dec 2007. At this rate. Apple have trouble on their hands.
We all know the one millionth Zune not yet got into customer's hand. It should be in the store shelves.
The only thing that matter is How the vendor's going to order the next batch of Zune?
@ray. Dont feed the ifanboys. We are IN for the long haul...their pedestal is already showing big cracks..
@ray. What happened to Cesar ? He havent updated www.zuneinsider.com
Welcome to the Social.
ifanboys.
Hey Ricardo, in the US it is a public holiday so that's why ther's no posts from Cesar.
After my Creative Labs 30GB DAP died, I searched around for a HD-based player to augment my flash 2GB Samsung and I somewhat reluctantly settled on a brown Zune from CarToys.com at $199. It was the cheapest 30GB unit on the market at that time.
After 3 months of using it, I love the Zune. The screen is awesome and my iPod bretheren dig the form factor. It's nicely crafted, has a decent UI and it different enough from the ubitiquitous and increasingly boring iPod to have some cache value. While it is bigger, I have switched to using the Zune almost exclusively over the smaller Samsung for most activities except going the gym. It's surprisingly good for a MS 1.0 product, despite the negative PR.
Now, if Uncle Bill would please fix the crappy Zune desktop application and I would be golden. WMP11 is superior in it's usability and look-n-feel. And if they can do an inexpensive, flash-based unit, I will ditch my Samsung too.
If you are such a professional you really should have all your facts straight first, that's all- instead of spreading misinformation. I believe my criticism was constructive because otherwise you would have kept believing what you thought and spread more misinformation.
I quote you:
"did you start foaming at the mouth during or after reading my original post?"
The above clearly shows how childish you are and it must have hurt that a "mere" normal person like me without a phd in statistics knows more than you. Also, did you really have to go showing your degrees- they bring nothing to the argument that you didn't have a clue about NPD. You do not need a maths degree to know things like that.
Fair enough, you win. I will stick with my usual tactic of watching every Engadget post on either Microsoft or Apple descending into the usual quagmire of fanboy-dom in future. I was just a little miffed with the "You're the idiot..." bit, which appeared a little childish to me.
Ok just so everyone can stop complaing I believe what they are getting at is the following.
Zune 1 million units over the last twelve months. The whole HDD music player market in the last 12 months - 10 million units.
They may not have been what was explicitly said but it would be predictable marketing speech. (Not just a MS thing either, all companies declare things as such). Install base is much much smaller. I would guess that it would take the release of a flash based player of simialr popularity and the sales holding up for 3 years or so(life of a player) than it would have 10% of the mp3 market. Not a small challenge.
Now you can argue what you want about the validity of the numbers, it is more likely shipped numbers. For example the Xbox 360 had sold around 9 million when they were boasting 12 million shipped.
This is a big number but I would be more interested in the amount they are moving per month. It is not like video game systems. There was no supply constraint, so the launch was a good chunck of the sales. There are no killer apps coming. So they need to follow the old Ipod routine and update and improve every year or so. The need to find a may to stand out so the average idiot can see they offer something more than Apple. And I am not talking the weak sharing functions highlighted by those terrible commercials.
As far as where the sales are coming from I am guessing Creative is getting hit the hardest. 10% is nice but most of that is the "refuse to be in the majority" or anti-apple crowd. If this share can double in the next year than we are talking.
Are you all daft? Look at it this way: they're probably looking at HDD DAP sales since the Zune has been released. So if some 11 million HDD DAPs have been sold since then (a vast majority of them being iPods), then MS would have to sell about 1 million Zunes to have a 10% market share. This has nothing to do with the total 100 million iPods sold since 2001, because Zune hasn't been competing with them since then.
And really, of those 100 million iPods sold since 2001, how many still work?
they have been making the zune since 2001! you fool.... making that many copies of something takes a long time!!!
As if my spammer email address wasn't disposable, but whatevs!
vsbscgp5@gmail.com
DENLARK ZEN AND ANTHONY URSO, I HAVE GIVEN YOU MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME TO REFUND MY MONEY FOR THE $39 FORTUNE GALLERY AKA YOU SCOUNDREL YOU. I AM ASKING ONCE AGAIN FOR MY REFUND IF YOU ARE NOT A SCOUNDREL.
Out of curiousity- does anyone know either the revenue breakout or sales breakout for nano's vs iPod HD players in 2006?
Thanks in advance.
As if my spammer email address wasn't disposable, but whatevs!
vsbscgp5@gmail.com
Sorry for the "you're the idiot" bit. I made a mistake there because there is a post near yours that started with that and i thought it was replying to me;)
I agree about the fanboy thing which ruins any post about zune/apple. I just get annoyed with the constant negativity towards zune for no reason at all. Why do people get personally threatened by it? People should welcome competition because it's a win win situation for the consumer. I think it comes from the fact that alot of people reading these tech blogs own stock in the various companies and so are biased- they have a reason to be threatened by competition. The evidence for my thinking about the stock thing comes from the time engadget posted the fake story about iphone being delayed and aapl stock dropped by loads and you should have seen the amount of angry shareholders commenting on here.
Wow. The iPod is doomed, for sure. But then why do Bill and Melinda Gates still carry their 5G 80GB iPods wherever they go?
100millionth ipod has nothing to do with it thay are talking abour THIS GEN IPOD HDD with THIS GEN Zune HDD thats it.
Its like saying Nintendo owns 99% of the market by adding up eveything they sold from 1985 till 2007
Uhhm, video doesnt look pixelated on my 20" monitor, and it doesnt look pixelated on the Zune either. The screen is bigger, brighter, same resolution, at the same price. Whats to hate on exactly? Are all iHaters this stupid? Damn.
Does Microsoft still give a portion of its Zune profits to the record companies? I don't hear it mentioned anymore.
Once MS gives that up and comes out with a smaller player (why would I want something bigger than the iPod?), I might consider one.
You have no idea how wide my jaw dropped when I read this headline!
Well, congrats Zune folks. I have to admit that I was VERY skeptical at first about the sales goal, but it's not even June 30 and you did it!
I've got nothing cynical to say about this at all... Just Congrats!
(And bring Mac support soon.)
the only problem with the zune is it's fugly. other than that - cool stuff!
I have yet to see a single person using one so I take the 1 Million number with a really big grain of salt. Maybe they gave away 500,000 as part of promotional activities (win a zune!!)...
Please say you just listen to Rush Limbaugh because he's funny... If you actually agree with the stuff he spouts (global warming=not real) then I am at a complete loss of words.
I listen to Rush because its nice knowing that not everyone has lost their damn mind.
And its clear you dont listen to Rush...because if you did, then you would know that he does not say that Global Warming isn't real, what he does say, is that its not caused by humans. Which I believe to be 100% true. But you go ahead, and absorb that misinformation that CNN spews on a daily basis...you go watch you Inconvenient Truth...again, and perhaps invite Michael Moore & Al Gore over and have a good ol' time.
I‘m a smart person, and I like to know whats going on in the world, hence why I watch Fox News...because its refreshing to hear both sides of the story.
"SHIPPED" is not the same as sold except for a guy who hanging onto his job - though after the holidays when MS is third in the console business, he'll be Zune gone.
There are millions of idiots on this planet and just over one million stand out from the crowd...
Aw, look... the Windows/Zune fans are getting all worked up!
It's OK guys, Zune's are just fine, really. And I'm sure they'll out-do iPods eventually.
No, really.
1. Can the Zune integrate with the industry-leading online music store (iTunes)?
2. Does the Zune have THOUSANDS of accessories on the market?
3. Is the Zune compatible with multiple OSes?
4. Does the Zune offer multiple models to fit everyone’s needs?
5. Can the Zune integrate easily with my vehicle via an adapter which allows control via the factory stereo?
6. Does the Zune support running hardware that will track pace and distance?
Why would anyone want to limit their DAP experience with a Zune?
1. Can the Zune integrate with the industry-leading online music store (iTunes)?
iTunes isn't a store, it's a program, and I don't know why anyone would want to integrate anything with that POS. The iTunes Store is what you're thinking of; again, why would anyone want that, or any other online store with DRM filled shit?
The iTunes Store is more of a negative than a positive.
2. Does the Zune have THOUSANDS of accessories on the market?
Why would you need thousands? There are more than enough accessories to do the job. Besides, iPod accessories are just cheap car radio adapters (like the iPod radio that hooks into your car radio... pointless), and cases (again, you get one, you stick with it. You don't need many choices for this).
That's about all the accessories, other than maybe headphones, but then, those are universal, so it doesn't matter.
3. Is the Zune compatible with multiple OSes?
No, not really, but they also don't need to be. In the market, the number of Windows users dominate the number of Mac and Linux users. While it would be nice, it isn't necessary.
4. Does the Zune offer multiple models to fit everyone’s needs?
No, but neither did the iPod when it first came out. I also don't see Apple releasing any iPods to suit everyone's needs either. Do they still sell the cheaper HDD based iPods? No. There are two. The 30GB and the 80GB versions, both with video. If someone doesn't want video or doesn't want to pay for the video feature, but want the capacity they offer, what do they do? While the Zune doesn't offer this, its still the first generation, and there will be many more to follow.
5. Can the Zune integrate easily with my vehicle via an adapter which allows control via the factory stereo?
Yes. It can.
http://www.amazon.com/Zune-Car-Pack/dp/B000IXLHM4
It even does so wirelessly.
6. Does the Zune support running hardware that will track pace and distance?
No, but could there be an any more useless feature? Seriously, unless you're in your 50-60's and need to keep track of how much you run or walk, whats the point?
Ok, now, did you ever take into account durability? The Zune is much more durable than the iPod. The iPod's shiny finish is ruined after a week of use, just from putting it in your pocket or even in the little pouch.
What about reliability? The iPod is terrible in this respect, because I have seen so many desensitized Click-Wheels and unresponsive iPods, it's not even funny. Not to mention the customer service is terrible. The "Geniuses" (nothing more than emo failures) either say that it's out of warranty, or they rush you a refurbished iPod with questionable quality.
why would you want to use a crappy factory stereo display instead of the nice, big, and unbelievably beautiful zune ui?
Actually I didn't get my info from CNN or An Inconvenient Truth. I got it from every single peer reviewed journal article written on the subject. The people I don't listen to are the "scientists" hired by the gas companies which strangly never publish in peer reviewed journals. Strange that something so true wouldn't ever appear for review from the academic community. hmmm...
They still make Zunes? Fancy that.
Vista is just ME with some turd polish.
I have my doubts about believing anything coming out of Redmond.
This is from Zunescene.com, a website dedicated to the Zune (http://www.zunescene.com/):
Update : Oops! Zune marketing's Cesar has pointed out that the interview was not correctly transcribed and here's what Robbie Bach really said: "When we finish our fiscal year in June we'll have sold a little over a million Zunes, so we feel very good about that." OK, that just gives us time to better prepare a proper celebration at the Scene headquarters. At least the 10,000 member announcement was accurate.
Sounds like a little spin going on here.
There are those that have a slightly different take on Zune sales:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q1.07/8709A21F-1899-4AA2-8283-CAF3F4B353FF.html
I have no doubt that Microsoft will have placed a million Zunes on store shelves by the end of June, but I really doubt that there will be a million units in the hands of consumers, which is the real measure of success.
So Robbie, what's the truth here?
A) A million Zunes were sold when you gave the interview.
B) A million Zunes hadn't been sold, but you were 'expecting' a million sold to consumers by end of June.
C) You're still trying to figure out how many more units you have to cram into the Target and Best Buy warehouses so you can claim that 1 million Zunes have been 'sold'.
If anyone wants to call me a Mac fanboy, don't waste your time. I'm a PC Tech and make my living supporting Windows machines.
BTW - I still haven't seen a Zune in the wild.
Wow. they truly got no taste