The Zune has been a disaster for Microsoft. Has it challenged Apple’s iPod? No. Is it a worldwide success? Again, no. Unless by ‘worldwide’ you mean the US and Canada. But even then, no.
In fact, the latest numbers from Redmond show that Zune actually lost money last quarter. Microsoft clawed in $16.6billion overall, but Zune revenue crashed 54 per cent, nose-diving from $185million to $85million.
We’re not quite into Gizmondo territory – Zune is still alive and twitching. Microsoft has blamed the state of the economy and a lack of new Zune hardware for the $100million loss. New models are apparently planned for later this year.
But even Steve Ballmer can sense that the Zune’s number is almost up. He “all but admitted that the Zune was history,” said the FT last month. “As [Ballmer] pointed out, stand-alone media players are no longer a growth market. They’re being superseded by mobiles with music, and by all-singing, all-dancing smartphones.
“And Microsoft, he insisted, was not about to come out with a Zune Phone.”
Read the full Why the next Zune must be a phone article on TechRadar.
