Microsoft will not launch its Zune portable player in Australia this year a senior US executive of the Company said at the CES show. “We are set to make changes to the device and we would prefer to launch the new version as opposed to the old one” they said.
Kannyn MacRae Marketing Director at Belkin also claimed that Microsoft will not launch Zune in Australia this year. “We believe from our US sources that the Zune player will not be launched in Australia. We have a full accessory range for the Zune and we will only launch this range when the product is available”.
According to an article on Bloomberg.com, Microsoft exec Peter Moore has revealed plans to release games for its Zune music player within 18 months – a move which would match a feature currently available on Apple’s market-leading iPod music players.
Moore did not reveal any specific games that are Zune bound, but said that the player’s large screen will offer a better way to play games on a handheld device.
Since its release last year, the Zune has failed to make any inroads into the iPod’s market share. JupiterResearch analyst Michael Gartenberg cited the Zune’s lack of features for its disappointing performance.
“It’s not like the music enthusiasts have been flocking to Zune, and they need to really answer Apple in terms of feature parity,” said Gartenberg. “But they will also have to find ways to differentiate. If all they do is hit parity with iPod, they don’t win.”
Microsoft is expecting to sell more than one million Zune players by June 30, 2007, light-years away from iPod’s estimated 17 million sales in just one quarter.
