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Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Says They'll Sell 1m Zunes By June

Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday that it expects to sell 1 million of its new Zune music players through the first half of 2007. That figure would pale in comparison to Apple Computer Inc.'s market-leading iPod, but Microsoft contends it would be a good start.
"We think that's actually pretty awesome," said Bryan Lee, corporate vice president for Microsoft's entertainment group.
The $250 Zune, whose 30 gigabyte hard drive can hold 7,500 songs, debuted in mid-November to mixed reviews. One unique aspect of the Zune, its ability to let users wirelessly send songs to each other, has been panned for allowing shared music to be played only three times in three days before expiring.

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posted by Stock Administrator @ 2:28 PM   1 Comments

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Zune Selling Badly

Microsoft Corp.'s Zune digital music device ranked No. 58 on the list of Amazon.com's best-selling electronic devices on Thursday, trailing such devices such as record turntables and a digital picture frame.
On Thursday afternoon, the $240 Apple 30-gigabyte iPod video player was the No. 1-selling electronic device at Amazon.com, followed by the $149 Apple two-gigabyte iPod Nano device and the Canon PowerShot SD600 digital camera. Six of the Seattle-based online retailer's (NASDAQ: AMZN - News) top eight-selling electronic devices were made by Microsoft rival Apple Corp. A device that holds a Nano player to one's sleeve was outselling the $239 Zune player, as was a package containing 50 Memorex CD-R disks.
Officials at the Redmond software giant (NASDAQ: MSFT - News) said Zune's wireless capability, which is unavailable on the Apple product, will set it apart.
"Zune is all about changing the game to make music more social, and at launch we are just scratching the surface of how wireless technology is going to enable social interaction in the future," said Bryan Lee, corporate vice president of Entertainment Business at Microsoft, at the product's Seattle launch on Nov. 13.
Published November 30, 2006 by the Puget Sound Business Journal

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posted by Stock Administrator @ 8:48 PM   0 Comments

Monday, November 27, 2006

Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) Sales Strong For iPod

Apple Computer Inc.'s line of iPod music players was the most popular electronic device sold online over the Thanksgiving shopping-intense weekend.
Cupertino-based Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL - News) iPods took five of Amazon.com's top 10 spots of most-purchased consumer electronic items, and 10 of the top 25 spots.
Redmond, Wash-based Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ:MSFT - News) rival Zune product was left far behind, with even an iPod accessory outselling the Microsoft media player.
On Monday, Amazon reported that Apple's 2-gigabyte silver iPod Nano was top-selling electronics device, followed by the black 30-gigabyte video iPod and the newly released 1-gigabyte iPod Shuffle.
Apple shares hit an all-time high Monday of $93.16 before closing at $89.54. The stock's 52-week range was $50.16 to $93.08.
Published November 27, 2006 by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal

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posted by Stock Administrator @ 6:38 PM   0 Comments

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

The Diagnosis for Microsoft's (MSFT) Zune Not Looking Good

Few have accused Microsoft of being first to the market. But plenty have learned the hard way that the company can be very good at sneaking up from behind.
That's the tack Microsoft Corp. is hoping to take with entertainment. The software maker has invested years of effort and billions of dollars in entertainment endeavors ranging from television technology to video game consoles. What's more, it has said that it's willing to spend much more money, and take much more time, to see if those investments pay off.
Its latest effort, the $249.99 Zune portable player and music service, debuts Tuesday and marks one of the most high-profile attempts to take on Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod and iTunes powerhouse.
Analysts don't expect the early effort to make a serious dent in Apple's market share.
"It's not even going to give the iPod a bad headache for the time being," said analyst Michael Gartenberg with Jupiter Research.
The Zune is roughly twice as big as the iPod and doesn't have as much memory. These two factors taken together spell out the word "Loser."

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posted by Stock Administrator @ 4:30 PM   0 Comments

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Launches the Zune

Microsoft Corp. expects wireless song sharing to be the feature on its Zune portable music player that allows it to challenge Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod, the company's chief executive said Monday.
On Tuesday, the world's largest software maker will start selling the 30-gigabyte Zune, which allows users to beam photos and songs to one another, and it will launch an iTunes competitor called the Zune Marketplace in the United States.
In a telephone interview with Reuters, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said he sees the wireless technology leveling out some of Apple's huge early-mover advantage because the iPod does not offer that feature yet.

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posted by Stock Administrator @ 10:52 AM   0 Comments

Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) Inks Deal With the Airlines

Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday six major airlines will let passengers play video and music from their iPod digital devices on in-flight entertainment systems beginning in mid-2007.
Air France, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Emirates , KLM, and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines will begin offering their passengers iPod seat connections, which power and charge iPods during flight and allow the video content on the devices to be viewed on seat-back displays, Apple said.

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posted by Stock Administrator @ 10:25 AM   0 Comments

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Microsoft (MSFT) Vs. Apple (APPL), the Gadget Wars

Microsoft has finally presented a challenger to Apple's ubiquitous iPod digital music players. It's bigger and heavier and more difficult to use.
But the 30-gigabyte, one-size-fits-all Zune, which is due to hit stores this month priced at about $250, was actually invented in Redmond, Wash., and for that reason Apple should be quaking in its designed-in-California boots, even though it owns the digital music business.
By the time Microsoft figured out that this Internet thing might be more than a fad, it was hopelessly behind Netscape. By the time Microsoft realized that video games were a multibillion-dollar business, Sony's PlayStation appeared unbeatable. Microsoft typically arrives late - in this case five years after the iPod's debut - but then grinds away relentlessly.
Can the Microsoft Zune do to Apple what Microsoft has done unto others? Let's say this: I know the iPod. The iPod is a friend of mine. And the Zune, which, by the way, comes in white and black as well as brown, is no iPod.

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posted by Stock Administrator @ 2:16 PM   0 Comments

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