Microsoft who don't believe that Australia's are worthy of a great deal of their consumer technology products are now attempting to resurrect the image of their Zune music player which is struggling up against the Apple iPod.
In Australia Microsoft has refused to launch the Zune music player along with their home server product range and despite telling journalists that they would launch a new music site in conjunction with Sanity 18 months ago the site has failed to eventuate with Microsoft management refusing to comment about the delay.
In the gaming market the Xbox 360 is struggling to grow market share up against the PS2 and 3 from Sony and the highly successful Nintendo Wii from Nintendo.  
During the past few weeks Microsoft executives have been making the rounds of Hollywood studios in the hope of licensing exclusive original video programming for the portable media player, which has struggled to gain traction in the marketplace.
Microsoft is also coming under threat in the mobile phone market with vendors like HTC, Samsung, Motorola and iMate struggling to attract sales up against the new 3G Apple iPhone.
Earlier this week Microsoft denied rumours that future Zune's would include phone technology.
Thompson Reuters claim that Microsoft is looking for nonconventional programming that can capitalize on the device's social networking platform, according to Richard Winn, director of entertainment development at Zune.
"What we would be looking to do with any form of original content is the added component that Zune could provide that iTunes or any competing service couldn't," Winn said.
Exclusivity could mean either locking up content that only appears on the Zune platform or syndicating content that appears first on Zune before moving elsewhere with Zune branding.
Finding some point of distinction is becoming paramount for Zune as it strives to come anywhere close to the market share that iPod has amassed among portable media players. In May, Microsoft said that just 2 million Zunes had been sold since the product's launch in November 2006, whereas Apple reportedly averages 3.5 million iPod sales per month.