That sounds like hyperbole. I don’t think consumers trust Microsoft any more — and, of course, they’re right not to. However, it’s not just business that’s using MS’s stuff. There are a heck of a lot of non-business buyers picking up machines with Windows (and perhaps Office) on even if those same individuals are not buying Zunes (or smart(ish)phones, etc.).

Or maybe that sentence was meant literally. Perhaps RD is saying that MS doesn’t sell *direct* to consumers but sells to the OEMs, and tries to ensure that consumers don’t come into contact with other options.

Microsoft’s strategy in Australia is interesting. It knows it’s threatened by UMPCs. Those are a threat for two reasons:

(1) Linux is lighter and more agile (XP runs slower and Vista’s not going to be practicable at all);
(2) At that price point, a hefty price on system software is too disproportionate to be realistic.

What they’ve done is strike a deal with Asus. The cheaper model runs XP. A second, more expensive, model with a larger drive runs Xandros Linux. Only the cheaper model will be available at retailers. Presumably, MS gave Asus a pretty good discount — good enough for Asus to agree to that second restriction — but, of course, MS are not so desperate as to want to walk away without as healthy a profit, as is possible. The difference in price between those two models isn’t negligible — flash-based storage isn’t exactly cheap yet, and the dearer model has 8GB more. That difference presumably correlates with what MS is pocketing over and above what Asus is paying Xandros to provide and maintain its Linux distro for Asus’s customers.

Interesting. This time MS have won — sort of. But they’ve been backed into a corner.

This is what they do, isn’t it? Their customers aren’t end-users. Even in the consumer market where they’re competing for consumers’ cash, they don’t really have a relationship with them. They have these relationships with with OEMs, with retailers, with content providers. This story is fascinating in this regard:

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Will-Zunes-Zap-Unauthorized-Content-62928.html

Here you see MS apparently telling one story to NBC and another to end-users (after an NBC exec. made his “impressions” of MS’s intentions from discussions public) It’s not clear whom MS is intending to doublecross: NBC or Zune owners. But it’s probably not as planned as that: more likely it just tells everyone what they want to hear.

The result of deals like this is the public doesn’t trust Microsoft. The other thing is one has to wonder if MS even thinks very much about what “the consumer” wants. In their mind he’s to be directed, duped, channelled, manipulated, the passive recipient of other people’s “done deals”, not appealed to with amazing products. Apple’s not like that. Jobs spends an enormous amount of effort developing products that he knows people are going to lust after.

Well, let’s see… Take the number of MS employees, total up their moms, spouses, and kids… I think that just might make 200,000!

Oh, those don’t count either? Never mind.

Anyway, last time I wrote about Zune sales rankings was over a year ago: http://www.microsplot.com/expedition

It’s interesting to see the updates on sales (such as they are) in comments here. I really wonder what the internal mood is within MS: “Keep fighting, we’ll get there!” or “Aye yi yi, how do we close down this mess?”

I’m actually a bit surprised by that, since there are TVs all over the place that use FM transmitters for the audio so that you can tune into the specific screen that you’re watching. The Zune built-in FM receiver would be handy for that, which the iPod lacks (although can be achived with Apple’s special headphones).

Hey, maybe that’s what PA Semi was bought for: integration. Apple could easily add an FM receiver to the iPod with probably just one chip, but that’s still increased component cost and manufacturing complexity. But if they’re making their own custom chips, then why not throw in additional features? The only cost is in the additional engineering effort.

I usually agree with Jobs’ “less is more” philosophy, but there have been occasions when I wished I could pull in some radio.

I know somebody with the first generation Zune and I got to try it. It looks positively Paleolithic next to the iPod Touch/iPhone.

My local Wal*Mart put Zunes in front of their music player displays and iPods were shoved in the back. I would guess that’s why Wal*Mart sells so many relative to other stores. Microsoft is probably giving them a killer price, but oddly enough they are not passing it on to customers.

D

At consumer price, 2 million zunes ’sold’ equals a value of $500 million bucks.

I have no evidence, but instinct tells me that Microsoft are hiding a disaster, or a crime, of monumental size.

These guys have to be accountable to shareholders, at some point, for all the lost money on bad or useless products.

Is it possible that Microsoft has some nasty and illegal tricks that allow money to be transferred in the form of objects paid for but not really sold?

Hubris knows no limits, by its nature……

Has anyone else noticed that the dictionary in Leopard doesn’t recognize Zune as a word.

Typical walmart.