Microsoft ratchets down pricing on flash-based Zunes
By Darren Murph 
posted Nov 18th 2008 5:41PM
posted Nov 18th 2008 5:41PM
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I was on the fence about getting one for the girl. The decision is a lot easier now. Probably still a no.
You're such a tease!
Hey! I just high-ranked me and the universe didn't collapse!
High-Five!
make sure she doesn't listen to Chinese or Japanese music or she'll hate you for it.
@loocas:
Now try low-ranking yourself ;).
@ Backlin
I DIDN'T DO IT!
Your mom isn't that tech savvy anyway.
BADA-BING.
I wish the red was actually red, not pinkish-raspberry!
And I still think the screen is inaugurably SMALL for the price you're paying, might as well get an iPod nano!
yes... defer your females technology so she has to rely on you... its the perfect trap
@ lowest rank above
@ Backlin above:
I don't want to disturb the forces now that I'm turning green...
@ low ranking me
Obviously, you didn't get the joke ;)
We did get it, it just wasn't funny.
@ nizzy1115
Now you're just being cruel...
It's not easy, being green.
ehh i always thought zunes were kind of odd looking and sort of ugly. honestly, nothing goes with that shade of green microsoft... and the lower prices still make we want to buy something else.
Speaking in the plural about yourself? Better get that checked out.
oh my bad i meant me not we.
Well I have to disagree, I think the Zune is a pretty cool looking device, especially the big one, but the green one or whatever color it is is just horrible...
don't you mean "our bad we didn't mean i"?
Because there is only a green colored Zune!
you know what's green?
Apples.
@sinai
Yeah, but the green ones taste nasty!
So maybe now Microsoft will have 1% market share.
Hahah so funny that you fail. They were at 10% a few months ago. I know it's not much, but its definitely a good start
Why do so many Mac fans make fun of the Zune's market share but act like Apple is going to take over the world with its similarly tiny marketshare?
Awesome, the zune marketshare is as high as Apple's computer marketshare!!!
And it didn't take them 24 years to do it!
Wow Gabe just gow owned.
SWEEEET!
except for the part where i bought a car pack literally yesterday :(
Yay now to find if anyone else is discounting their discounted price as I would like to get the dock.
I'll sit in Europe and cry.
Still waiting for this illusive Zune to arrive on these shores.
me too damit:@
Ahh that is why there is ebay.
people still buy standalone PMP's?
Yes.
Yep. I love my Zune 30.
Yes, 100+ GB memory cards haven't been produced yet.
I have an iPhone3G and a Zune 30GB and I'm considering carrying both around. When in shuffle mode the iPhone freezes on random songs, sometimes it will play 3 songs, sometimes 30, but it freezes eventually. Then I restart shuffle mode and wait for it to freeze again. Also pressing one physical button in my pocket is more convenient than pulling out the iPhone, pushing the center button, swiping my finger, selecting the ipod application, and then finally touching the button I wanted to.
I absolutely LOVE my 120GB Zune... had it about a month now and don't leave home without it, especially since my car's audio deck has the AUX port.
I use mine this way too...it never leaves the car, just syncs podcasts and whatever from my garage.
"You already purchased two in the time it took to read this, didn't you?"
No.
LOL SO CLEVER!
Question: Do we have any idea what the new generation of zunes will have. AND will the new generation flash zunes have a bigger screen, because im on the fence, due to the fact i have the zune 80 but don't really need that much space right now so i am thinking about getting the smaller flash versions, but now since this cut has come im thinking of a new model coming soon.
ANSWER: NO
A new model won't be out for another year. Generation 3 of the Zune is expected late 2009 along with a European release.
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2008/03/third-generation-zune-in-fall-2009-europeans-included.php
I've done some contract design work with Microsoft in the past few months. The next-gen models are pretty much locked in now. The flash-based players will have a flesh-like exterior, and they're lined with fur. The hard disk version is similar, but with no fur. I prefer the hard disk version.
I'm hoping for a touch screen edition, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
$99 for a solid PMP is a great deal.
I find the interface more entertaining than the iPod???
-Cue Low Rank from Fanboiz-
Good Job for Microsft!
This should pressure Apple to lower iPod prices HOPEFULLY!
i've always thought ipods were prices reasonably well. an ipod touch for 230 with internet capabilites sounds like a good deal to me. an ipod nano for 150 that is incredibly thin and tiny with 8 gigs sounds good to me. the shuffle is overpriced, but apple would never go so low to make it under 50 bucks.
zunes are nice... just not very attractive. o and i hate the ipod video. its useless and fat.
iPod touch with internet capabilities for $230
I got my Nokia N800 for under $200 - it has
- expandable memory (2x SD slotS)
- removable battery
- free open source OS (Maemo, a distro of linux)
- Free upgrades and free software
- Higher resolution and bigger touch screen (no multi-touch though)
- A camera
- Built-in stereo speakers
- It plays movies (any format with mplayer), music, and wait for it... browser is mozilla based and can actually run pages with flash.
you know, I could go on forever here...
My point is, iPod Touch IS overpriced.
Stop comparing the touch to Zunes dude.
We already established a few months ago that they are not comparable. Until Microsoft comes up with a comparable, don't even bring it up in a Zune debate.
Futureshop has the 8GB Zune on sale for $99.99; hehe, still not buying one though. Since when has there been a swamp green Zune, and where's the blue one?
@ Matt: The Zune is a joke. It's not going to come anywhere near the iPod's market share, ever. If it were a better device, maybe it would, but it's not.
Apple, on the other hand, is a threat because Microsoft says they're a threat. You know those ads in which Microsoft responds directly to Apple's "I'm a Mac" ads? That is Microsoft admitting that Apple is a threat to them. Why would they respond directly to an ad campaign from a company with 17% market share? Does that make any sense at all?
Only if Microsoft is worried enough to try to convince people not to listen to Apple. And they would have to be pretty worried in order to justify spending millions on ads to try to counter Apple's ads.
You don't see Apple responding to Zune ads, do you? There's a reason for that. Apple is not worried about the Zune.
Also, olive drab. Yeah, that's an attractive color.
@zak, nice reply to the wrong comment there dumbass.
@ Zak,
I don't get it, the Zune 120 is much better than the Classic! Even some of the deepest Apple fanboys would agree. Its faster, thinner, and is just BETTER.
Zak, since when has Apple attained a real marketshare above 6%? All the amazing stats I hear are very specific - one often touted stat is that "Apple has 25+% of the laptop market*"
*in the retail sales US only, for the month of September, when not comparing online sales of competitors (Dell, Gateway, ASUS, etc)
Or another one is "Apple's market share rises 35% in one year!"
Well yeah, an increase from 3.5 percent to 4.7 percent is not exactly world shaking. In the same time, Vista doubled market share from 7% to 14%; outselling all macs currently in service 3 to 1.
I just feel like adding:
In the first week, more copies of vista were sold than all copies of ALL other operating systems combined.
WRONG Zac!!!
The iPod Classic doesn't hold a candle to it's competing Zune and neither do the Nanos. Basically the only iPod that can be viewed as a superior device is the Touch and unfortunately MS doesn't make a competing device.
I'm not going to sit here and make claims without at least backing them up with some type of info.
1) Anybody that has used a Zune knows that the sound quality surpasses that of the iPods.
2) The Zune UI puts the iPod UI to shame. Clean, simple and sexy. I can't say that about the iPod's UI.
3) Even the build of the device seems better. When I'm holding my iPod in my hand I'm very afraid of dropping it. A Zune just feels like it could handle getting dropped better. Not to mention that the surface of a Zune seems less likely to get scratched.
4) Correct me if I'm wrong isn't the Zune cheaper than the iPod?
I don't think the Zune software on PCs is superior to iTunes? is it? Can iTunes be used to manage my Zune? Because if so then it doesn't matter. In any case the PC software is not the Zune, and my comparison was Zune VS iPod (I think iTunes can be used to manage your Zune though, so it really doesn't matter).
Why does Microsoft even try?
Huh, what? What? I didn't hear you, could you please talk a bit more clearly?
That's like saying why does Apple even try. Their marketshare is just as tiny. I guess they should just give up. Why is Apple such a threat but the Zune is a huge joke?
If there was no competition, Apple would be resting on its laurels. Lack of competition weakens a company. Just look at what happened to Internet Explorer without competition. Do we want the same to happen to the iPod. I don't think so.
Why does Apple even try with their me-too computers?
hell yeah I mean who takes microsoft seriously anyways? right guys? guys?....
@ashwin
What? Internet explorer has always had competition. Mozilla and Netscape have been around for many years. You were just to ignorant to have heard of them.
MS can easily afford to sell these "me too" device at money losing prices forever. Since these devices have nothing ground breaking nor compelling to lure buyers, selling them at a loss makes perfect sense. Having a business model that provides unlimited funding every quarter allows them to create these tactics that undermine prices for companies that has to profit for products they produce. Good job MS for thinking outside the box. Undercut your competition to win market share. What better device but to use the feces inspired Zune that probably cost two dollars to produce using sub par materials. Easily seen by looking at the finished or should I say unfinished product.
damn those sub-par materials like and aluminum... oh wait was that the ipod touch/iphone or the zune? Oh ya, both.
glass and aluminum^
Do us all a favor and shut up.
"nothing ground breaking" - iPods
"profit for products they produce" - Apple (alot)
"produce using sub par materials" - iPhone 3G plastic cracks
"or should I say unfinished product" - iPhone 3G
If Microsoft is a "me too" company, does that mean that they infected their videos with HDCP DRM, just like Apple did?
I like the Zune interface and Zune software (dislike that there's a seperate Zune software at all though - why not just update media player?), but they really need a hardware refresh at this point. The Zune's are a brick compared to the latest iPods, they have to step up the pace of hardware refreshes.
I want a good price on the Zune 120
You can get a Zune 120 for 228 at walmart.com :)
I like how they didn't put the blue Zune in the picture.
Tagline: 1,000 BSoD's in your pocket, for less!
I am so getting one now. I had a Zune 30GB since launch and unfortunately it was stolen and I could not afford a new one. Now I can snab up a 4GB one to hold me over for a little while. I really loved my Zune and want another.
IPOD TOUCH FTW! Digg me down
Even before i ever started commenting here on engadget, Jubei's comments always gave me huge fits of laughter. That's probably because they were the most ignorant, outlandish and fanboyish comments i've EVER seen in my short life. Someone please kill that troll. Despite the comedy he needs to go. "Me-too,me-too". SHeesh.
You should meet Clak.
Clak lacks humor though, he's trying too hard to be downright annoying.
I know... There's a part of me that wants Jubei to stick around due to the absolute hilarity that ensues with each and every post, but then there's the part of me that is annoyed by his pitiful attempts to degrade a product that is legitimately better than the products he so feverishly defends. I'm surprised he hasn't put himself into an Apple induced coma yet.
Nope.
Not jumping into the market until I can get a 200GB+ Ipod touch (or similar product) for $200.
Until then, I wait.
they should be selling now since the price dropped like that
Unfortunately for Microsoft, my time isn't free.
Just a quick correction to the article posted by Engadget. The article implies that the price reduction only applies to the US market, thereby bringing the cost in the US for Zunes a little closer to the cost they are in Canada. This is not true, Microsoft has reduced the cost in Canada as well to the same price in Canada dollars as it is in US dollars, so it is still better value, given the current exchange rate, to buy a Zune in Canada than it is in the US.
I have several Zunes currently after having years of problems with ipods. The Zune is on eof the best purchases I have ever made,the sound quality trumps the ipod, it has radio {hello} and the wireless/Xbox box syncing are fantastic.Plus the new games are hot & free! {checkers/hexic/SPACE BATTLE/sudoku/texas hold em} I have never been a follower. Alot of you ipod classic holders just don't want to let go. Even Cnet keeps it real saying Zune trumps Ipod classic. The world aint flat and the classic aint poppin.
Do or Die Bedstuy (Brooklyn NY)
So many people in these comments claim to love their Zune's every time news is released. It's bordering on suspect.
grrrrrrr, just bought mine a couple of weeks ago, and when you convert to aussie dollars that's a huge drop in price!
Anyway, lovin the Zune down under, syncs wirelessly with ease to my PC, and the screen is very sharp, perhaps it's time to snap up another one in time for xmas at this price!