Zune Hardware Officially Abandoned

October 4, 2011

Microsoft has officially abandoned Zune, admitting publicly for the first time that production of the hardware has ceased. RIP, iPod wannabe. Microsoft said that Windows Phone will be where it puts all its attention on in that space and that Zune will live on as a brand. The Zune brand will live on as the face of Microsoft’s content sales services. It remains a mainstay in the Entertainment section of the Xbox dashboard, for example.

"We recently announced that, going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy, and that we will no longer be producing Zune players," an official statement read. "So what does this mean for our current Zune users? Absolutely nothing. Your device will continue to work with Zune services just as it does today. And we will continue to honor the warranties of all devices for both current owners and those who buy our very last devices. Customer service has been, and will remain a top priority for us."

When Microsoft launched the first Zune player in 2006 it had high hopes that it would be able to compete with Apple's iPod. After serial iterations of the hardware, it was clear that Zune just couldn't compete at the level Microsoft wanted it to compete at.

Source: MCV

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Comments

Re: Zune Hardware Officially Abandoned

Submitted by Neo_DrKefka on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 16:11.

The Price, the DRM and other problems why would one want a Zune? They tried to turn into video market place into a seperate Zune program on xbox to make it harder to get on. Windows 8 looks like crap Google is seriously getting into the PC buisness Microsoft is soon to be replaced

Re: Zune Hardware Officially Abandoned

Submitted by greevar on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 20:58.

I have a Zune, but I don't buy from their music store. I actually haven't bought any music for a while now. Not much appeals to me these days. I bought the Zune HD because the interface is so nice and it support multi-touch. It's also the only device I know of that has FM and HD FM capability.

-Greevar

"Paste superficially profound, but utterly meaningless quotation here."

Re: Zune Hardware Officially Abandoned

Submitted by hellfire7885 on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 18:23.

I ask the same questions about the Ipod. I prefer to get something less well known that I can put music I actually want on it and not have to re-buy it all if I commit the oh so grave error of changing computers.

Re: Zune Hardware Officially Abandoned

Submitted by State on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 10:17.

Well don't buy DRM music. I own an iPod and rip music off of CDs onto it. Why people pay to download poor quality compressed music I don't know.

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Andrew Eisen: Well, the Xbox One reveal certainly had an interesting affect on the big 3's stock prices. https://twitter.com/AndrewEisen/status/33705126448977100805/21/2013 - 10:45pm

PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/so-the-xbox-one-reveal-screwed-up-a-lot-of-peoples-kin-509179256 So The Xbox One Reveal Screwed With Some People's Kinects05/21/2013 - 10:36pm

Zen: On a funny side note...both of my boys have already voted NOT to get the Xbox One as soon as they found out Minecraft won't transfer lol. Some people have priorities damnit! ;)05/21/2013 - 9:27pm

Andrew Eisen: Here's the full quote on EA making Wii U games according to Neogaf: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56112105/21/2013 - 8:19pm

Andrew Eisen: Xbox One may not be always on but that doesn't mean you can use it without an internet connection. http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-50916410905/21/2013 - 7:39pm

Andrew Eisen: Polygon says EA's CFO says it is developing games for Wii U but doesn't provide that quote. http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4351844/ea-developing-wii-u-games05/21/2013 - 7:11pm

Andrew Eisen: Well, I was right. Both Sony and Microsoft's consoles will be out by the year's end and both will be significantly more powerful than the current gen.05/21/2013 - 5:06pm

james_fudge: thnx05/21/2013 - 4:47pm

Zen: Just to let ya know...you called it the "Xbox 260" in the backwards compatibility article lol.05/21/2013 - 4:26pm

Zen: @PHX Awesome, I will hit those up after class tonight. Going back to college finally! :) My kids have had a blast telling ME to do my homework now lol.05/21/2013 - 4:19pm

PHX Corp: @Zen I sent you a friend request on both PSN and XBL, just a heads up05/21/2013 - 4:16pm

Zen: I noticed it with the football players when EA showed off Madden as well.05/21/2013 - 4:11pm

Zen: Is it just me or is call of duty hitting the "uncanny valley" with their nicely modeled faces and dead looking eyes? I found it distracting and seemed actually "less" real to me lol.05/21/2013 - 4:10pm

james_fudge: it sounds like if you have an HD reciever you'll be able to use it with a pass-through cable... not 100 percent sure yet05/21/2013 - 2:41pm

james_fudge: happening now http://majornelson.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-architecture-panel/05/21/2013 - 2:20pm

E. Zachary Knight: Some reading material for Microsoft on its used games blocks. That will hurt the console more than helping. http://ezknight.net/?page_id=20505/21/2013 - 2:18pm

james_fudge: yeah good luck with over the air TV05/21/2013 - 2:12pm

E. Zachary Knight: But what if I want to only watch over the air tv? I don't subscribe to pay tv. I never will. If that is a requirement, then MS wasted 45 minutes telling me how great TV will be.05/21/2013 - 2:08pm

james_fudge: EZK it will depend on your provider, just like HBO Go i'd imagine.05/21/2013 - 2:05pm

PHX Corp: @IanC there's also a chance that those titles might be Xbox one exclusive, but it's too early to tell afaik05/21/2013 - 2:03pm

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