Microsoft sees Zune effort a long haul

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Different markets

---like mice, keyboards, and gaming devices---

I'd be curious to know how MS rates in those markets. Do they dominate, or are they just another also-ran? Would they be willing to settle for turning a small profit in the music arena but not displacing the market leader?

Good points about the difference of this market. One big obvious difference is the lock-in that Apple has established, which makes conquering it vastly more difficult than the other device markets (with perhaps the exception of the Xbox). For keyboards or mice, there's no barrier to entry--anyone can buy and use MS devices, even Apple users, so it's a level playing field. This is not the case for music, as Apple has established a lock-in to their device with iTunes and the AAC format (which I'm willing to bet MS won't support on Zune--no way am I re-ripping my cd's from AAC to MP3 or WMA). I'd also be willing to bet that Zune will be Windows-only, cutting out a small, but technologically influential and affluent part of the market.

The Xbox faces some of the same issues, in that buyers of PlayStation games are locked-in to the Playstation. The big advantage it has over Zune is that MS can create new games, new material for purchasers that is not available for the Playstation. In this case, they're going to be selling the exact same content as Apple, so that advantage goes away.

Posted by: tic swayback   Posted on: 07/28/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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