Zune Vs Rest of DAP gang

MS Zune is almost here! And iPod lovers are already asking what’s the point of M$ arriving in the market so so late at a time when Apple rules it.

Well fellows go dip your heads in some history books. There was a browser out there which was completely razed to the ground by Microsoft; of course the phoenix that rose from the ashes in the form of Firefox is trying to be rise again. Microsoft was late then, but they are really ahead now. IE 7 beta builds are matching up to Firefox.

There was also a gaming console called the PlayStation, was… because unless SONY manages to get the PS3 out of the concept phase in a viable marketable product before Microsoft comes out with the 3^rd iteration of the Xbox, it’s a dodo in the gaming market.

These are 2 instances of widely popular end user applications where the first comer never managed to stay the king. Zune is late, but does it really matter?

The market is huge and the current DAP manufactures are ripping off the customers as is evident by Apple’s price cuts which happened even before the Zune was publicly announced. Prices dropped by a huge margin, and Apple is still going to rake in a huge profit margin. Apple had nothing to put up in a new product line up other than introducing a adding a 0.5 to the current generation.

People are complaining that Microsoft is going to hurt its former DAP partners like Creative, iRiver, etc. Well I would say Microsoft is helping bring diversity and competition to the market. Most of the big players never cared to bring good enough products into the market. Some players were really crappy but were still pricier than corresponding iPods. They never tried hard.

Now Microsoft is driving down the price. There are rumors that Zune Ver 1.0 may be priced at US $229, $20 cheaper than corresponding iPod, but with the wireless and FM. M$ has really deep pockets to carry the price war on for as long as the competition is willing to fight. Also don’t be surprised if Apple as to come out with some kind of networking features to match the Zune.

What can we expect in 2007?? Irrespective of how Zune ver 1.0 fares, Microsoft will be coming out with its own improved new version and not another pimped up Toshiba GigaBeat. Its going to either combine Zune with games or a portable Xbox with Zune integrated either was a sure winner in its hands with the right pricing. Apple and others will have no option, but to follow up with similar features and price stickers.

And yes, there are also the big rumor that M$ might give away Zunes for a throw away price of $100, just like they did with IE, with the hope that they can make up with the huge market base such a move would bring and the corresponding earnings from subscriptions. It’s not a far fetched idea when you consider that some online music subscriptions are giving away DAPs with subscriptions.