Lessons of Zune

Michael Gartenberg | December 10, 2006, 09:31 AM

So while Microsoft works to get the first million Zunes sold, here’s some thoughts at what they need to do (and should have done at launch) to get to this milestone.

Zune lacks elegance – It’s actually not bad looking device but put it next to a 30gb iPod (as every reviewer has) and it looks and feels clunky by comparison. While the UI is very nicely done, most folks will never even get that far in the buying process. I won’t even go into the whole D-Pad disguised as a scroll wheel thing.

The Price is Wrong - While Microsoft priced Zune at $249 (and losing money at that price) all that did was bring them to Apple’s price point for a unit with no cachet. Let’s face it, Apple and iPod are strong premium brands for consumers. Zune is not. It’s hard to price yourself the same as a BMW when you’re an Hyundai. A $50 price difference could have appealed to value minded users initially.

Need for a Flash Player – Nano is the most popular iPod sold so why take on the market with a 30gb hard drive player? There really needs to be a Zune flash player ASAP.

Zune doesn’t feel complete – That great big screen is mostly wasted. I’ve said it before, Zune needs to get some premium video content into Zune marketplace. Of course, there also needs to be an integrated podcast client. Lack of Vista support will no doubt be fixed before January 30th, but the reports that Zune didn’t work on Vista made Redmond look silly.

Get Someone From MSFT on the Road – One of the worst parts of launch was watching Microsoft let others take the Zune message to the media. That led to some of the disastrous moments like Andre Ross Sorkin of the NY Times trying to defend Zune while the CNN Anchor gushed over her iPod Shuffle. This product needs to be evangelized by more than word of mouth.

There’s no doubt that MSFT could be a contender in this space but the Zune team needs to start fixing some of these things and doing it quickly.