Zune accused of stealing Microsoft Profits… sort of.

Two blogs today talk about how the Microsoft Zune might be to blame for the loss that Microsoft has felt recently, and the termination of some 5000 positions. With Staci D. Kramer commenting that the shrinking MP3 market did not touch iPod sales; “The latter didn’t seem to hurt iPod sales in the holidy quarter.” which may be true, but Microsoft has a more open platform than the iPod, so I’m more willing to accept that MS feels the swaying of the market much more than the dedicated customers of the Apple brand. Microsoft is not bound to any one music system as is the iPod, so customer loyalty is much higher. Frankly, it is pretty obvious when you see Apple stickers on cars. Yes, those stickers have a dual meaning.

The Microsoft Zune just isn’t an attractive device. And correctly said, the touchscreen sector is growing, and I think that is the greatest issue. The Zune doesn’t need to die, it needs a facelift and additional features. Touchscreen, more robust WiFi, perhaps a built-in slider keyboard. Basically, an OQO but without the $2000 price. Oh, the screen is fine, which is why I’m probably going to go with an Archos 5. Microsoft is in trouble in the music market because they didn’t do with this as they did with their OS. They aren’t aggressive (good), they aren’t marketing it (bad), they don’t have a proprietary system (good for me, bad for them), and their technology is boring (bad for me == bad for them), and there is a lot of competition for the open platform MID, PMP, Ultraportable, devices (good for me, bad for them)… so, in a nutshell;

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