SlashGear Japan
Update: As ever, our intrepid SlashGear commentors come to the rescue. It looks like Amazon incorrectly tagged several iPod models, causing them to be left off the hard-drive based sales list. As of update, they’ve still not corrected the issue; however in the full portable audio chart the iPod Touch pre-order is sitting happily at the top (complete with prescient user reviews).
Cynical we techies may be about Microsoft’s Zune and its appeal as a PMP, but the general public once again demonstrates that at the end of the day price plays one of the biggest factors. Since the cost of the white 1st-gen 30GB player dropped to a mere $169.99 on Amazon US – thirty bucks more than the $50 reduction Microsoft announced – it’s hit the number one spot on the retailer’s hard-drive based PMP sales list.
Still, Microsoft should probably hold off from getting too excited. Zune was never meant to be a pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap player – the no-brand Korean and Chinese PMPs do that far too well – it was meant to be a true rival to the iPod.
If you view this reduction as a stock clearing exercise before the 2nd-gen model launches (and wouldn’t it be interesting to see exactly how much stock there is to clear?) then we can only hope that Microsoft had some premonition about the iPod Touch, since the next Zune will fail to compete even more unless they provide a strong alternative to the touchscreen Apple.
7 Responses to “Zune price-cut spurs Amazon sales”
chris September 8, 2007
Its not #1 enymore!!!
+1Ty September 8, 2007
Wow $100. But I guess they have to do that to even try to stay in competition but personally I think it’s over. They have to do something 10X bigger for it to change anything.
NeutralBrian Manders September 8, 2007
I really like those new Zunes, makes the iPod classic and fatty look ancient in comparision. Bring them on Microsoft!
I have the brown Zune and it has been very reliable and a nice system over the last 10 months. A bit chunky but then that is not a problem for me.
NeutralTy September 8, 2007
I have personally not used a Zune but I’m a quite big fan of iPods.
NeutralSteve Jobs September 8, 2007
Amazon failed to add “hard-drive” as a tag for my iPod Classic’s. Both the 80G and 160G version. Both of these outsell the Zune. Ha Ha Ha.
NeutralPalmer Deville September 8, 2007
I think you made a mistake. That is, your story is based on an Amazon mistake.
Amazon has failed to properly tag the iPod classics as hard-drive based players. If iPod classics were tagged correctly and showed up on the hard-drive PMP list, the black models would be ahead of the white Zune just as they are in the overall Top MP3 player list. It can’t be one way in one list and another way in another list…
Poor reporting.
NeutralTy September 8, 2007
Yea, true.
Neutral