James Delahunty
22 Jan 2007 18:21
Microsoft Corp. has hinted that its Zune player ands services could be available in Europe by the end of 2007. The company claims it is happy with the sales of the Zune so far in the United States, saying Zune has 10.2% market share "in the 30 gigabyte category". Marketing Director, Jason Reindorp, told Reuters that Microsoft was realistic about the competition it faces in the iPod-dominated market.
"You couldn't get a more entrenched competitor," he said at the annual music industry Midem Net conference in France. "But we feel really good about the first steps that we've taken." He revealed that Microsoft was still not ready to announce any official launch plans for Europe, but that it could be out by the end of the year.
"The industry moves in this sort of Christmas to Christmas cycle. So you can expect that there will be more devices, more features in the market at that point," he said. "Our next round of introductions will probably be in time for the holiday of this year." Reindorp said the company planned research with focus groups in Europe to see how the device could be modified to better suit a European consumer.
He said the Zune was still on track to sell 1 million units by June 30th.
Source:
Reuters