Microsoft Cuts $50 From Zune Price
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SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. slashed $50 from the price of its Zune digital media player Wednesday, the same day Apple Inc. was expected to unveil additions to its market-leading iPod line.
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(InfoWorld) - In what can be seen as either a joke or a real attempt to get employees to give up Apple iPods in favor of the Zune MP3 player, the team at Microsoft that builds Zune has set up a bin at its headquarters so employees can drop in iPods they don't want to use anymore. A photo of the "iPod Amnesty Bin" , which has on it an image of a bitten green apple and the words "Bite me," has been posted on Flickr. From the looks of the photo, not many people have been willing to give up their iPods, though a few of the earlier versions of Apple Inc.'s popular media players were lying at the bottom of the bin. A user who calls himself "fimoculous" and identified himself in an e-mail as MSNBC.com employee Rex Sorgatz , posted the photo, and said he thought the bin was someone's idea of a joke, nothing more. MSNBC.com is a joint media venture between Microsoft and MSNBC. "My guess is someone at Zune thought it would be funny, that's all," he said. Sorgatz said he is an iPod user, but could be convinced to switch if he found a superior product. Matt Rosoff, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, also suspects the bin's placement is meant to be funny, as it would likely be in the Zune team's best interest to use the latest iPod devices for competitive purposes. Indeed, none of the iPods in the bin in the photo were current versions. "Most of the people [working on] Zune would want to have an iPod to keep track of the competition," he said. "On that team, they're all into digital music, so all of them probably have a bunch of players." The photo got numerous comments from Flickr users, who in general thought it was amusing, though some were less impressed than others by the joke. "Only someone stupid enough to buy a Zune would be equally stupid enough to not sell their discarded iPod on eBay," commented Ariel Waldman , (ariel_waldman on Flickr), a digital insights analyst at interactive marketing agency VML Inc. "That's funny," wrote another who goes by "Dr_Watso" on Flickr. " I was always amazed that people ... jumped on the iPod bandwagon, even though there are so many much better devices that cost a whole lot less." The Zune team is based at Microsoft's Bear Creek offices in Redmond, Washington, near the main campus. An Apple spokesman declined to comment. A spokesman for the Microsoft public relations agency that represents Zune said she could not reach anyone on the team for comment, but she suspects the bin is meant to be a joke or a "morale booster" for employees at Zune headquarters. Microsoft launched the Zune last November, but the device has done little to sap enthusiasm for the iPod, which remains a top seller in the hard-drive media-player market, according to marketing-research firm NPD. Still, Microsoft is ramping up its marketing efforts around Zune in the hopes it can drum up interest in the device. The company released a pink Zune earlier this month that is outselling Zunes in white and brown, according to the company, and also launched a new print advertising campaign to promote the pink Zune called "Sync Pink." Microsoft also introduced a new TV commercial that highlights the features of Zune that differentiate it from the iPod, such as wireless sharing and the FM radio tuner. Microsoft is leveraging the popularity of its Xbox game console to promote Zune as well. In light of the highly anticipated release of the "Halo 3" Xbox game later this year, Microsoft unveiled a limited edition, "Halo"-themed Zune that comes preloaded with "Halo" videos, soundtracks and trailers. The device will be offered exclusively at GameStop retail stores and on its online store beginning June 15. There already have been preorders for the device, Microsoft said.
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At the same time it cut the price of its 1Gb iPod shuffle to $49, Apple Inc. also announced plans to launch a $69 2GB model later this month.
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Microsoft Corp  cut the price  of its Zune digital music player on Wednesday by $50 to $199 in  an attempt to rev up sales of the device competing against  Apple Inc's  iPod.
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Online retailer Woot.com offers Microsoft's digital music player for $129, but "apologizes" to buyers who paid a higher price a month ago, offering them a $10 coupon.
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What Universal does with digital royalties Column How much can artists expect to benefit from Microsoft's Zune MP3 player?â¦
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Apple has announced that it will drop prices on its DRM-free AAC downloads to $0.99, the same price as all other single-song downloads. Amazon responded by giving its affiliates a 20% cut of all sales.
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Microsoft said last week that it had met its previously stated goal of selling one million Zunes by the end of the company's fiscal year, which occurred on June 30.
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Zzzz...wake me when it arrives Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told German business and economics magazine Wirtschafts Woche in an interview that Microsoft will delay the European launch of its moderately-awaited Zune MP3 player until next year.â¦
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Microsoft says it is on track to sell its millionth Zune music player, the software company's would-be challenger to Apple's enormously popular iPod.
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The Zune, Microsoft's much-hyped answer to Apple's trend-setting iPod, had a good first four days of sales, says a leading research firm. But consumer electronics analysts don't think Apple has anything to worry about. The NPD Group, which tracks sales at most top retailers, says the Zune digital music device had a 9% market share in its first sales days Nov. 14-18, compared with 63% for Apple. The research firm hasn't reported sales for the all-important Thanksgiving holiday selling weekend.
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Microsoft said its Zune music player will include wireless technology that will allow owners to share songs and playlists easily.
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The company ended its temporary promotion that saw it slash the price of its downloadable songs to 49 cents. The company launched the promotion last month to compete with Apple&#39;s iTunes service, the market leader.
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Are the devices in this picture interesting enough to make you buy a Zune instead of an iPod?
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Microsoft concedes, as many predicted, that its Zune strategy can't happily coexist with a program designed to promote others' devices and services.
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By Benjamin J. Romano, Seattle Times  Dec. 7--Microsoft expects to sell more than 1 million Zune digital media players by the end of June, an executive said Wednesday.
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Microsoft's highly-anticipated "Zune" portable media device is set to make its first official appearance at an invite-only press event Thursday. The unveiling will follow the introduction of a completely revamped iPod lineup by Apple just two days earlier.