Microsoft says no plans for Zune HD in France, other markets still up in the air
By Donald Melanson 
posted September 10th 2009 6:41PM
posted September 10th 2009 6:41PM
Those in the U.S. may finally be getting their hands on the Zune HD next week, but it looks like folks elsewhere could well be in for a longer wait than they may have been hoping for. That's been the speculation since the device was first announced, of course, but Microsoft is only now getting a bit more specific about the matter, with Microsoft France exec François Ruault telling PC World that the company has "no plans" to launch the Zune HD in France, although he adds that doesn't necessarily mean it'll never be released there. That presumably also means that the rest of Europe is similarly up in the air, but if past history is any indication, it seems likely that the Zune HD will indeed land there eventually, sometime after it finally makes a trip north of the border.
[Via MobileTechWorld]
[Via MobileTechWorld]
you hit the nail on the head. I don't know where the fanboyism comes for these Zune products, I think owning a Zune is more of a political statement than anything
@Dragod: you forgot to mention to shabbis that the average Joe will understand and care about price points and paying $200 for 8Gb is not as economical as paying $220 for 16Gb or $300 for 32Gb when the same capacity can be had for $290 ($10 difference but that can go towards an extra months subscription to Zune Marketplac ), and we can all expect that MS's big surprise will be announcing the availability of a 64Gb version and also undercut Apple and steal what little thunder they had left after that big let down.
current iPod Touch owner, soon to be future ZuneHD owner
What Microsoft should do:
-Announce 64GB Zune HD.
-Announce world-wide release.
-Price $50+ Cheaper than competing Apple products.
-Capitalize on Apple's 9.9.09 failure.
-Gain market share.
-Innovate in ways that Apple can't -- Awesome 360 integration, etc.
-Wait for Apple to play catch up.
What Microsoft will do:
-Keep 32GB Zune HD.
-Announce Canadian release in a year.
-Price $10 less than Apple's products.
-Stay complacent.
-Lose an amazing opportunity to make the Zune THE player to have.
-Wait for Apple to announce its new iPods
-Disappoint all those who know how awesome Zunes really are.
I made myself sad...
big deal, most people I know don't even know what a Zune is, let alone in Europe. Most people still call all MP3 players iPods. You can waste your money on this crap but I'm waiting for the reviews on some of the most recent Google phones.
what do google phones have to do with anything?
Bring the HD to Canada Friday September 18th and i'll be very happy.
W00t!!!
fuck me its not really going to take that long to come to canada is it?
Um, how long did it take for the original Zune to make it to Canada? And even that was "rushed" because they released it before getting the Marketplace approved and functioning...
If they wait to get Marketplace and HD Radio working up here before releasing it, be prepared to never see it in stores :D
Sorry but if those features don't work world-wide, then to the rest of us, it's just another touchscreen media player... with no market share
The Zune HD might release only in America.
You have to remember we don't have internet access from our PC's to the Zune marketplace it isn't even available in Canada.
I don't blame Microsoft for keeping it a North America only affair though. The last Zune sold so bad in Europe they didn't release proper figures for sales.
What are you talking about? No Zune has ever been released in Europe.
It should be coming to Canada soon, most retailers stopped stocking the old Zunes soon after the announcement of the HD. I know at my local futureshop the former Zune section is not empty, seemingly awaiting something.
I'm in the US.....Own a Zune.....and could care less...... Give it up MS you lose this one period.
Why would someone want HD radio on an MP3 player? HD radio has failed it is not in many markets and even the markets it is in most stations have not really utilized it. Most people could care less about HD Radio.
The iPod touch has a huge install base. Also im curious what will happen with MS using the multi touch. That is copyrighted by Apple.
Also MS is making a big mistake dropping all zunes. You have to give people options. Not everyone will want a zune hD. Some want something like the nano or the shuffle. Everyone at MS laughed at the shuffle saying it would not sell. Well it sells very well for Apple.
I still remember when the first zune came out people were bragging everywhere within a year or within 2 years the zune will kill the ipod. It has FM radio the ipod does not and on and on.
Well lets see years later zune has 1% marketshare and i would bet thats including all the ones sitting on shelves at stores too.
I am happy to see ms actually TRYING something different but it always seems like catchup to the ipod. Apple makes a huge hit with an MP3 player so MS comes out with PLays forsure to compete, Apple does the itunes store and years later zune marketplace shows up. What is this thing that the zune plays music better? Music is music. get better headphones for your ipod it makes allot of difference. I never understand when someone says zunes sound better. To whom? the musicphile out there who is 1 in a million? The ipod sounds good sounds the same as any other player. Headphones make a difference really.
Apple comes out with a touch screen so then years later MS does a touch screen.
TO me 2 things i hate about MS.
1. they always are playing catch up. The only place where they succeed is in the OS market. That is because Windows came out at a time when Apple had nothing to offer they were serving up an OS that was aging and had nothing new in years. The hardware was nothing great and the fact that apple underestimated the windows OS. They thought it was nothing more then smoke and mirrors.
To this Day anything Apple does well or anyone does well MS just either steals the Technology or buys the company out and claims it as their own.
2. They are Big brother. Ms does not want to make you happy they want to make money and control the way you do things. They want to be in everything taking over everything. Not to make your life easier but to just own everything.
Apple sure is coming into the living room, the music place, videos and much more BUT. Apple is about the consumer yea they are growing and all but the company is always innovating and coming up with new products and the big difference between the 2 is.
MS sees what is hot in the marketplace and then figure out how to make something that will do the same thing so they can cash in. Apple sees what is hot now looks to the future and says this is what consumers will want tomorrow and they do it.
So MS by the time it comes to market with something its already outdated. Apple brings something to market and everyone wants it
Hrm, I wonder why?
The idea that the Zune HD is going to see competition from the iPod Nano is just bizarre. Look, mate, I'm pro-Apple but something has very clearly gone wrong with the iPod Touch update for whatever reason and so the Zune HD is effectively going to be competing against last year's model. It makes absolutely no sense that the iPod Nano would be the device to see updates when the iPod Touch is clearly the model that is Apple's primary focus. This is one of those occasions to suck it up and simply say that Apple messed up. It's happened in the past and it will probably happen again in the future. Not every year can deliver an iPhone or similar breakthrough product.
I'm sorry but Microsoft really is THE dumbest company going. I do not know how much money they have pumped into the Zune over the years but even now they cannot coordinate a global launch of their product unlike every other company. If you are going to limit the size of your potential market then don't expect accessory makers to have much time for it, or for software developers to write applications for it. I honestly thought that they were going to do an international release this time but no.
I can appreciate some of the comments about HD radio not working outside the US but I honestly don't think that anyone really cares about that anyway and would buy the device regardless.
This is just utter madness.
HA ha!
-Nelson Muntz
Weak. I was hoping this would be the one.
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