Zune shows up at Canadian retailer on schedule for June release

Just like we said, the Zune has made its first retail appearance in Canada. Come June 13th, our friends to the north will be able to get their hands on Microsoft's media players, starting at $139.99 (for the 4GB flash variety), up to $249.99 for the big-daddy 80GB version. Pre-orders are being taken now, but something tells us you'll be able to get one on launch day regardless.

[Thanks, Andrew]

[martin @ May 23rd 2008 8:51AM]

i'm guessing some kind of zune-june tye up there.. and if not, shame on you microsoft

[JC @ May 23rd 2008 8:55AM]

Huh? These have been in Best Buy and Future Shop for months, unless you're talking about specific models.

[Rob P @ May 23rd 2008 9:04AM]

They might be to the north of us... but they're not our friends, guy!!!

We want.... more money

[Michael Flanagan @ May 24th 2008 12:12PM]

@Rob,

He's not your guy, buddy!

[Kspraydad @ May 23rd 2008 8:59AM]

Yah?

@JC...never seen them at any Ottawa BB/FS....not online either...where are you seeing them?

[JC @ May 23rd 2008 9:15AM]

I don't know, but I could swear they have them on the demo racks at BB's in Toronto. Maybe I was on crack that day.

[Kspraydad @ May 23rd 2008 9:16AM]

@JC

Well you are in the Big Smoke so the likely hood of being on crack is quite real.

:)

Go Sens!

[Drew @ May 23rd 2008 9:16AM]

You are Welcome...

[Wormbolt @ May 23rd 2008 9:19AM]

Was the Zune site down?

[Shinigami @ May 23rd 2008 9:23AM]

EUROPE PLEASE!!!!
iPod Classic (sold through Apple Store in my country) with 160gb space will cost me less than imported (unofficially) Zune with 80 gb space. Sad but true.

[Argot @ May 23rd 2008 9:43AM]

Yeah, but it's still an iPod. Sad but true.

[phenom @ May 23rd 2008 11:51AM]

Zunes are coming to europe in spring '09 along with the new models that come out that same year

[telepheedian @ May 23rd 2008 9:27AM]

Pre-orders are being taken now, but something tells us you'll be able to get one on launch day regardless.

Can we please stop with the Zune hate? It's not true at all, I have had a hard time tracking down an 80gb in stores in the US, they always seem to be sold out.

[Kspraydad @ May 23rd 2008 9:45AM]

Not in stock does not necessarily mean sold out.

[telepheedian @ May 23rd 2008 9:50AM]

They were sold out, these were from stores that carry the item, with the price tag on the shelf. The flash Zunes were easy enough to find, but the 80 seems to be rather popular.

[Feelinggood @ May 23rd 2008 10:07AM]

LOL! They are not sold out, on the contrary, despite the bullsh*t numbers Microsoft is putting out there, the zunes are not being carried by many retailers because that are really not selling that well at all as clearly demonstrated by the article below. The Zune has been an utter failure right from the start. Period.

Funny how we never, EVER see the kind of news items such as the one below regarding the Zune and other Microsoft turds on this supposedly excessively pro-mac site...

Original story is here:

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/hardware/10418052.html


SAN FRANCISCO - Video-game retailer GameStop(GME - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) has decided to stop selling Microsoft's(MSFT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) Zune players at its stores due to what it sees as insufficient demand from customers.

The move is unlikely to affect GameStop, whose sales come almost completely from video games but it puts up another hurdle in Microsoft's attempt to grow Zune sales.GameStop has over 4,400 stores located throughout the United States and 15 countries.

"We have decided to exit the Zune category because it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated," said a GameStop spokesperson. "It (also) did not fit with our product mix." GameStop made the decision about a month ago. GameStop said it will sell Zune players online until it clears out its inventory.

GameStop has hundreds of stores across the country and losing that distribution channel could hurt Zune sales. Many of GameStop's customers are avid users of Microsoft's Xbox 360 console and could have presented a cross-selling opportunity for Microsoft.

Microsoft has sold about 2 million Zunes since the device's release in Nov. 2006. Zune is estimated to have about 3% of the overall market share for digital media players currently.

Zune's total sales are a fraction of what rival Apple's(AAPL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) iPod. Apple sold 10.6 million iPods in the last quarter alone.

GameStop first offered Zunes to its customers for pre-orders in Oct 2006.

The decision to stop selling Zunes took a toll on the company's margins in the first quarter. Gross margins for the quarter were 26.1%, down from 27.2% the same quarter year before, reported GameStop on Thursday.

[telepheedian @ May 23rd 2008 10:29AM]

Who goes to a game store to buy a PMP? It's not the product itself, it's just like they said, it "did not fit with our product mix". It's like selling iPods at a video store, not the place you would go to buy it, too expensive for an impulse buy.

[Matt @ May 23rd 2008 10:32AM]

I didn't realize Gamestop was "many" retailers. Gamestop isn't even a consumer electronics store, it's a video game store, which is maybe why and mp3 player wasn't selling! They also don't sell iPods, so does that mean iPods aren't selling well?

And, if you read the whole article, you would see that they actually took a hit by dropping the Zune.

[Quikboy @ May 23rd 2008 9:53PM]

@Feelinggood : So tell me how the good the iPod sales are over at Gamestop. Oh. Wait. Gamestop doesn't even sell any other music devices/accessories. So dropping the Zune (which they never marketed, because they hoped for a Halo effect) doesn't make a difference in how well the Zune is doing in the market.

Do you get the point? Gamestop is a non-factor. It's just a poor excuse to criticize the Zune.

[Vic the One @ May 23rd 2008 9:32AM]

They have also modified the slogan for launch in Canada. It now reads:

"Welcome to the social, eh? Now come see what all the fuss is aboot!"

HA HA HAAAA.... Silly Canadian accents....

[roole @ May 23rd 2008 10:16AM]

My loonie for a zunie..........!

[helloUser @ May 23rd 2008 9:32AM]

Urban Outfitters in downtown toronto has had them for a while I believe.

[Frank Furter @ May 23rd 2008 9:41AM]

What's a Zune, and man, I bet it will be madness on the day of launch, with all those 4 people fighting for a spot in line!

[jamieh @ May 23rd 2008 10:04AM]

HAHAHA funny!

[Steffen Jobbs @ May 23rd 2008 10:10AM]

Are you kidding, those four people are really just one guy. THE ZUNE GUY! Welcome to the effin' social, dude. ZOMG.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gigantic-mistakes/zune-tattoo-guy-legally-changing-his-name-to-microsoft-zune-is-clearly-insane-318794.php

And no, I don't hate the Zune or Microsoft products. I just give credit where it's due. iPod Rulez!

[o.kruetzmann @ May 23rd 2008 10:06AM]

If you know where to look, you'd be able to find one. A liquidation store here in Edmonton had a few of them about three months ago.

To those who know: why would I want one of these things...? Would I be better off with something else? What's the advantage of owning a Zune?

[Ken Laninga @ May 23rd 2008 10:09AM]

Kreutzmann, GREAT machine, EASY to run, TERRIBLE software! I hate it.

[roole @ May 23rd 2008 10:19AM]

What does that mean "....EASY to run"?!

That it's not difficult to push a couple of buttons?

[Mark @ May 23rd 2008 12:12PM]

2.5 pretty much fixed everything the software was missing and without adding in any defects...

[psxp @ May 23rd 2008 10:11AM]

TheSourceCC were pimping them too in their mailout yesterday

[catachip @ May 23rd 2008 10:17AM]

Great. Now 33 million Canadians can have the opportunity to not buy the Zune.

[fred @ May 23rd 2008 10:53AM]

Oh well. They can also exercise their choice to not buy an AppleTV and a MacBook Air just like most Americans have done.

See I can do immature replies too.

[catachip @ May 23rd 2008 11:43AM]

Where did the Apple TV and MacBook Air come from? We're talking about media players.

Microsoft has "sold" 2 million Zunes since their release in 2006. (I say "sold" because, they don't say if that is to consumers or just to retailers where they sit on shelves - see GameSpot article). Meanwhile, Apple has sold over 85 million iPods since the Zune release.

[Josh L @ May 23rd 2008 10:24AM]

@Feelinggood:

Wait what? "Many retailers"? It looks more like that story is just about one retailer. One retailer that doesn't usually sell PMPs.

I imagine the "insufficient demand from customers" would be because nobody goes into a GameStop to buy a PMP of any description.

In other news, the GameStops near my house have all stopped selling candy at the register. Clearly, this is because the candy companies have been lying about their product's demand from the start. Nobody wants candy, ever. QED.

[xValentine @ May 23rd 2008 10:39AM]

I just got a Zune 8GB for $170

And I'm wondering what's with this hype?

I've been using this for a week now and to be honest, I'm not impressed.

The lack of Equalizer is really a big let down IMI. If I will rate the UI of the zune 8, I'll give it a 6/10.

I'm using a Sennheiser CX500 and the sound that the zune produce is not really THAT good if you compare it with an iPod. The bass of the zune is below average.

Oh well, I guess I'll just stick with this until I find a buyer. I'm thinking of buying the iPod Nano 3rd gen after this.

[derspiess42 @ May 23rd 2008 11:12AM]

Some quick research would have told you that the 2nd generation Zunes do not have equalizers. And you could've tested the Zune's UI at a retail store.

Personally, I much prefer the sound quality of any of my Zunes (I own a Zune 30, 80, and 8) over my fifth gen iPod. And the UI is outstanding IMO.

To each his own, though. Hope you get a decent price for your Zune 8.

[TDG01 @ May 23rd 2008 12:08PM]

I too am a Zune fan.....To me the sound quality of the Zune is far superior than the iPod....my wife owns the 8G iPod....my 2 sons each own the 8G Zune and I have the 80G Zune....comparing the sound back to back, it's unanimous....Zune wins every time.

Also, a lot of high-end audiophile gear do not include an EQ....the focus is in reproducing the sound in the purest, most accurate way so it's heard the way the producer intended it to be heard. EQs are really intended to compensate for poor equipment in the chain....

I'm not suggesting the Zune is a high-end audiophile player, btw....

Also, compare the interfaces, and the iPod looks and feels like it's outdated by 5 years...IMO

[Christian @ May 23rd 2008 10:46AM]

Love my 80GB Zune. Don't love the Zune software.

[derspiess42 @ May 23rd 2008 11:13AM]

Even with the 2.5 update? That fixed pretty much all the annoyances I had with the software.

[computer.dude.28 @ May 23rd 2008 5:29PM]

Get the 2.5 update. I actually ditched Windows Media Player as my media player/organizer when this update came out. It has everything.

[Jubei @ May 23rd 2008 11:42AM]

With that announcement, a lone dog in the distance barked....

Web exclusive only? Why not have them in retail outlets? I'm sure there will be hundreds of people waiting in line for these "me too" players right? They are literally flying off the shelves according to some Zuners here.

[coloneldebugger @ May 23rd 2008 11:54AM]

This is one time I could not possibly care less that a product is being released outside the U.S.

[Ridgecity @ May 23rd 2008 12:45PM]

why is it that Canada and Mexico always have to get the trash that doesn't sell in the U.S.A.? why don't they send us iphones instead?

[Shunnabunich @ May 23rd 2008 4:18PM]

Canada is getting iPhones, it's just that they're coming through Robbers Wireless.

[mattclarkie @ May 23rd 2008 12:46PM]

Send them to the UK and you have 1 customer guaranteed.

[teklikethis @ May 23rd 2008 12:59PM]

i love how the source by circuit city is getting this... its like the s*** of electronic stores here in canada

[jay @ May 23rd 2008 2:55PM]

Ridgecity
THe iphone are comming but it is expected the price will be.

Hardware $450 (3 year contract)
Data plan $80 (unlimited)

A telling sign of this is rogers is now offering the htc touch cumputer for $1600 on a 3 year contract.