1 million Zunes sold vs 100 million iPods sold
The battle between Apple an Microsoft is not at the end, but by this moment, the winner is Apple for its 100 million iPods sold.
Microsoft announced that it has sold 1 million Zunes. The Zune was presented is autumn, last year. The gadget has a 30Gb hard drive, a three-dimensional display and FM.
Robbie Bach the president of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division, responsible for both the Xbox 360 and Zune in the interview for San Francisco Chronicle, told: “We're still about nine months into having Zune in the marketplace. We're very pleased with the progress. We've sold a little over a million Zunes. In the category we're in, the hard-disk-based category, we've got about 10 percent market share. It's a good start. It's not an overwhelming start. I'm not going to pretend it's some gigantic move”.
Bach also told of a new factory being built in China which will manufacture 2nd generation hard drive Zunes as well as a new flash model. Questions about a Zune phone seemed to suggest Microsoft was happy with its existing Windows Mobile smartphones, without expressly ruling out a Zune Phone and exclaiming that the iPhone certainly was an interesting device.
With the iPhone just around the corner, and the potential of 100Gb or larger widescreen iPod models that use the iPhone interface without necessarily including phone functionality, the pressure on Microsoft to release snazzy new models is rapidly building, with the pressure on to deliver more of a knockout blow with the second generation models, although no-one expects a second generation Zune to suddenly start outselling the iPod.
The upcoming Zune, definetly will have more features and as much style as Microsoft can muster, but unless a miracle occurs, there look to be tens of millions of iPod sales a year to come for Apple for at least the next couple of years.
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