Microsoft will no longer make Zune music players citing weak demand and a desire to focus on the smartphone market. This should come as no shock to anyone. The Zune player launched in 2006, arriving very late to a market that Apple was dominating with the iPod. It was very well reviewed but it never had the sexy brand appeal of the iPod. It never had much marketing investment from Microsoft and what marketing it got was pretty bad. People have been making fun of Zune since it came out – guilty here – but it really was pretty slick. I’ll never figure out why they made one in brown.
The story is being widely reported as “Zune is dead” but that’s not entirely true. Zune capability is built into Windows phones, there’s a Zune music marketplace online, and there’s Zune PC software for syncing multiple devices. All will continue.
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