Microsoft received a lot of bad press when it first launched the Zune a couple of weeks ago, making the Zune seem like it wasn’t going to be the big iPod-slaying product that we were waiting for. It turns out that the Zune was actually the second highest selling portable digital player in the first four days of its release. The numbers were generated by market research firm NPD Group, which also stated the Zune had a very good first-week showing. The numbers only correspond to major U.S. electronic retailers, as online sales of the Zune placed it behind both Apple and Sandisk portable digital players.
It’s no surprise the Zune isn’t doing so well online as consumers who are more likely to buy a product online probably caught on to all of the bad press and reviews Microsoft had received regarding its new product. Henry Chen, of Current Analysis, stated Microsoft needs to come up with an improved Zune with touched-up features to be a strong competitor in the portable digital player market.
I have to disagree with Chen, I feel that the features on the Zune are already there and Microsoft needs to figure out a way to utilize them better. We don’t want Microsoft to release a new Zune every few months the way Apple does its iPod. The Zune is still fresh, and if Microsoft fixes the little problems the Zune faces, we may very well have a strong contender against the iPod.
Edit: I should point out that being the number two ranked player is less impressive because all of Apple’s sales are spread out across several iPod devices.
Zune May Stand A Chancel [cnn money]