Zune HD a major sellout?
By Paul Miller 
posted Sep 19th 2009 1:10PM
posted Sep 19th 2009 1:10PM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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Local stores have them in stock around here thinking about getting one.
3/4 Best Buys where I live were sold out of 32 and 16 GB. I picked up the last 16 GB at the last store.
Hurry, before they run out!!! For God's sake man!
/being tricked by a Nintendo-esque marketing ploy
Either major retailers didn't order enough (thinking it was just another Zune, which clearly would be wrong in this case), or Microsoft is taking a leaf out of Nintendo's book and creating 'shortages,' which make consumers feel the urgent need to buy as fast as possible. All device/company warring aside- you should probably not buy things just because you're afraid they'll run out.
@Mmmm...Dohnuts:
+1
Mmm... Dohnuts
You mean Apple-esque marketing ploy?
I seem to recall even the Apple stores themselves being unable to keep certain unnamed devices in stock...
I suspect the long ship dates from Amazon are because they sold out of their initial supply and are not sure how big/frequent restocks will be. It all depends on how fast the company making 'em can crank 'em out.
@tekdroid:
I didn't know I worked for Microsoft until you said I did.
Where's my paycheck MS!!! =/
But seriously, I care not about MS or Zune HD, but your posts are plain dumb therefore I feel the need to rank you down some =).
i want this sooooo bad too!
but theres no adapter for the car. dayymmmmm
@letstakeawalk--
"You mean Apple-esque marketing ploy?
I seem to recall even the Apple stores themselves being unable to keep certain unnamed devices in stock..."
---------------------------------------------
When you make the fastest selling / top selling product in it's category it's not called a 'marketing ploy," it's called supply and demand.
Not to say the Zune shortage is artificial either. I have no idea. Microsoft needs a win. They've had nothing but losses since Ballmer took the helm. The only legitimate argument in favor of another Microsoft failure would be to finally give Ballmer the boot so they can get someone competent in there. Otherwise, competition is good. Hope the Zune is a hit. Anything that instigates competition and pushes technology further, faster is good in my view. Especial is the mobile/pocket device category.
Downranking has nothing to do with being a MS employee or being a fanboy. Well it sort of does. I just went out 2 days ago and bought a new ipod touch 64gb and I still downrank blatant fanboy comments that have nothing to do with the actual topic.
I bought a touch but that doesn't mean that I think the zune sucks. Some of you people must have very low self-esteem.
@E-Man: I'm a developer, where's my bucket load of cash.
When all else fails, show your desperation by claiming that the only people who like the Zune HD are MS employees. So sad the iFans have nothing left.
@ ChrisG
I would say that the 360 has been somewhat successful. Wait until next month when Win 7 drops. It will be huge. Finally, despite comments from people who have never used 6.5 - their mobile OS is taking a huge leap forward. 6.5 is very nice - 7 will blow up if their trends continue.
@Arcaria
Well said. They each have their own selling points, and neither truly dominates the other in every respect.
+1
Walmart.com is sold out too. Dell.com is sold out of 32GB and has a 6+ week wait on 16GB.
First taking it on the fanboys, now fanboys are taking it on Engadget.
Guess people really won't be happy unless EVERY other post is Crapple related.
I see Microsoft has licensed the "Wii Sales Technique" from Nintendo.
Mr. Dickwad, ur name says it all!
@ sea urchin: lol ive been searching for that indie band since high school wen i couldnt remember their name thank you!
The stock price through the roof isn't that good for customers.
It only means you are being bleeded more.
Odd thing is, it's true for both microsoft and apple.
I took mine back. no line out..
I went to best buy the day it came out at 10:30 AM to buy it, and i got the last one! and it was the one on display lol.
@NohOne:
Oh boy, read it all, and it sure as well was worth reading.
Thanks for adding a +1 to my anti-apple fanboyism.
@NohOne
That's a lot of text... I find it amazing that you managed to say nothing at all.
If it were possible to fuse the Zune HD and iPod touch to get the best of both worlds for the same price, I doubt many people would turn down such a device. As it is, if you were to lay out all the pluses and minuses of both devices, it's clear that neither dominates the other, and that they are being marketed for separate audiences.
Simply put, the HD plays HD media best, and the touch plays touch media (games, web, and apps) best. While there is some crossover, neither beats the other in both sectors, and arguing for one device over the other in every respect is just plain foolish.
@Dohnuts
The point is that one side keeps saying that the tech in Zune HD is not up to par with their favorite device. And yet, up until a few days ago, the rumors of Apple devices containing the tech available in the Zune HD made those devices the best available. The Apple Tablet was rumored to have OLED, and it was going to be great. What was to become the iPhone 3GS was rumored to have OLED, and it would make it great. Now what do we hear? OLED is crap, OLED uses too much battery (proven wrong by SONY, Samsung, as well as an AppleInsider article). A few were even saying that when OLED makes its way to Apple products, it will be great, but for now it is a crap tech. HD output is great on the AppleTV, but HD is useless on a Zune HD. Tegra is crap because it cannot perform as well as the new iTouch but only because they are not comparing apples to apples (no pun intended, or maybe it is true, if it had an Apple logo, it would be great), and so on.
But I will give you the claim that they have different focuses and each performs better in their own way, and merging them would be one damn good device. iTouch and iPhone is more a PDA while the Zune HD is more a PMP. I think the Zune has more potential to be a better gaming device than the iTouch-iPhone, but MS has work to do. They need to open an app store. They need to fix boot times of the .NET framework to load apps faster. iTouch is better with games now because they have a better variety of games available. iTouch has a better browser only because oit offers "tabbed" browsing (not really tabbed, but it offers similar functionality - although I hate how if you open a link with 8 tabs open, it overwrites one of them and will not let you go back).
I am not really arguing for one device over the other (don't forget, I have an iTouch, iPhone, 5G Nano, Zune 16, Zune 80, but no Zune HD), I am simply stating that arguments of some about the Zune HD are completely false, and tired of listening to those false arguments.
"I will give you the claim that they have different focuses and each performs better in their own way, and merging them would be one damn good device. iTouch and iPhone is more a PDA while the Zune HD is more a PMP. I think the Zune has more potential to be a better gaming device than the iTouch-iPhone, but MS has work to do. They need to open an app store. They need to fix boot times of the .NET framework to load apps faster. iTouch is better with games now because they have a better variety of games available. iTouch has a better browser only because oit offers "tabbed" browsing (not really tabbed, but it offers similar functionality - although I hate how if you open a link with 8 tabs open, it overwrites one of them and will not let you go back)."
I'm sorry, but I really think the Zune is better at media playback, but not much else (not that that is by any mean a bad thing!).
It's not just the software and availability that makes the touch better for gaming:
-The Zune HD has no speaker, unlike the touch. Could you imagine Nintendo (GameBoy/NDS) or Sony (PSP) selling a handheld gaming device without a speaker? A successful attempt at that, has, as far as I am aware, never occurred!
-The Zune HD has a smaller screen (resolution and physical dimensions), and no amount of software will remedy that. It's great for widescreen movies, but the fact is that touchscreen devices NEED more screen area than that to allow for touchscreen gaming. accelerometer gaming will be fine, but the rest will be woefully hindered.
As for web browsing:
-The web browser actually offers a lot more than tabs, look at the Engadget review video and you will see how far it has to come: http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/624/
It's slower, less featured, and doesn't even load all the content on the pages when finished! I think my points will stand for some time to come (Zune HD = Best for media, iPod touch = Best for games/web/apps).
I hate Apple as much as any person with an IQ above 100, but Dickwad's comment was funny!
so these stores order 5 adware ridden zunes and sell all 5, now this is a success ?
Not sure what all the hype about but Amazon as of now shows the new iPod touch32 GB and 8GB
being 1st and 2nd as best sellers. Zune HD is 5th best seller. That sums it all! No need to argue
or BS.
Equilibrium references FTW
I think the Zune has done really well. It'll never consistently outsell the iPod Touch but it's pretty clear there's a lot of interest in it and that a lot of people want one.
As for Amazon's lists, I don't usually hold to it as it's a bit unreliable, however I am gratified to see the new Shuffle is being smacked down by the Sansa Clip and the old Shuffle. It seems people can spot a total failure after all.
@Dohnuts: I don't completely agree with you, but at least you are debating on the merits of the device and not what some Apple fanboy site tells you to believe. So you get my +1
@pavelbure: E-Man told us they only had 4 per store, now it is 5? Which is it? And I demand the same from you as I did E-Man, proof that there was only 5 per store, or admit you are creating the information.
@Tony: For a while Zune HD was #1 on that list - until the iTouch price was dropped. I wrote it before, and I write it agan; remember when Dell sent out coupons that could be used with anything in the store (I got one in the mail) including the Zune HD, and suddenly the Zune HD was a failure? Shouldn't the iTouch also be considered a failure? Now let's suppose that you go to buy an item, and told that you will not get the item for 1 or 2 months. Some people may still buy, but most will not thinking they may be able to get it from another store. If they are not selling because they are out of stock, then how can they hold the top selling rank? It is imple logic, but why should I expect that from you?
The best part about fanboys, which Apple's iDiot's don't seem to realize, is that the more comments you see dissing the Zune HD, the more it shows just how scared they really are of it. You won't see even a fraction of these hate comments on an article for the next iriver or Yepp.
Competition is a good thing for everyone, and if you think anything different then you truly are an iDiot...
NoHone
You win at the internets.
That post @ Sep 19th 2009 3:48PM was simply brilliant.
Well done.
@Tony
How can it be the best seller when there's no more of it to sell?
Face it Applebots: Zune HD is desireable and popular
I'm not afraid of something that I've never seen and has never been made available to my national market and offers no media for sale in said market. The Zune HD -might be- a total revolution... it may as well have been discontinued for all it matters.
As for the old "oh it's in limited supply" trick. Means nothing, it's like a happy ending in Hollywood movies, so expected you can't even be bored anymore. New tech item = sold out. Companies used to be so good at determining volume, now they determine the marketing volume and dial it up.
What to say about the fapwits spewing out specs and who's better. Hmmm. Well. In Apple articles same thing happens, including that the Pro Apple stuff gets down ranked, the Anti ranked up.
I like how the headline doesn't say sold out. It calls the Zune HD a sell out....
Information Week has the real story:
'If online sales are any indication, then the Zune HD isn't helping Microsoft close the gap with Apple in the lucrative MP3 music player market.
Apple's 32GB iPod touch was the second top seller (behind Kindle) in Amazon's electronics category as of Thursday, while the 32GB Zune HD ranked only seventh. The 16GB Zune HD was a lowly 16th on the list. The 32GB iPod Touch and 32GB Zune HD are both priced at $289. The 16GB Zune HD sells for $219.'
'Several users chided Microsoft for failing to match the iPod's rich application selection—a fact that could limit the Zune HD's appeal.
"If you expected a ton of apps on the Zune marketplace then you will be disappointed," an Amazon customer who goes by the name Gadgetzrock wrote on the company's online review forum. "No one in their right mind would give up the thousands of apps" available for the iPod Touch, wrote another user, G. Vernon.'
there are none left for more than 500kms radius around here, oh wait it was never released in Australia was it.
i would never buy a ZUNE hd LOLOL
@E-MAN
That is like the amount of apps the iPhone has when it came out against BB,symbian and WinMo, new device new OS you can seriously expect it to have 10,000 apps just for launch. journalism these days, even the news is unbelievebly biased.
@Dickwad
Your name suits you. A dickwad.
@E-Man
Still waiting for the proof that each store only received 4 units. And perhaps at the same time, you can explain the inconsistencies between your obviously well-researched figure of 4, and pavelbure's equally well-researched figure of 5.
Why would anyone in their right mind be against this device? Apple needs some legit competition to keep the iPod line innovative. Remember when everyone though the FM radio in the Zune was dumb? Funny, what's the big new feature in the iPod nanos?
Competition is good!
You're thinking about getting one and one is all they ever had in stock. Forget it. Just remember the Zune HDs mascot, the little white duck, who's always running around yelling "App-lack, App-laaaaack!"
Without apps, there's nearly nothing to drive Zune HD sales. I'll give the Zune six months before the sales start to sputter and the Zune HD noise will fall silent just like the Palm Pre.
@tekdroid
It must be really hard facing the notion that not everyone drinks the Apple kool-aid. :(
Now if we could only get the freaking Zune HD cellphone!!!!
Microsoft, does this not show you how well it would sell?? And for god's sake don't lock it down on just one carriers network..
You can always get it at http://www.ZuneOriginals.net (with engraving and all!)
my opinion on zune microsoft is that they released there product to early cause they have not devolped all the feature like apps youtube capability and games if they would have gave them self time to devolped these things before releasing they would have a better product then ipod touch but as of now microsoft is still playing catch up with apple
My advice to consumer is to wait for awhile before buying zune hd to see if maybe they would add some of these things.
Went around to 5 different stores on release day looking for a 32gb. Only 2 of those stores even had 16gb's in. Decided to not buy Zune HD....