Even though Microsoft is a larger and (arguably) more successful company than Apple, they’ve had a great deal of difficulty in competing with Apple when it comes to entertainment-based products, such as the ubiquitous iPod. In fact, the iPod has been so successful, that it has completely overshadowed many other MP3/media players, including the much-hyped Microsoft Zune.
The Zune debuted in late 2006, as a Microsoft-friendly alternative to the Apple iPod. But even though it had the full weight of the Microsoft marketing machine behind it, the Zune seems to have been doomed before it ever really got off the ground.
Now, a major online game and media retailer has announced that it will no longer carry the Zune. GameStop has decided to discontinue stocking the Microsoft Zune, and sell off the remainder of their inventory online. A spokesperson for GameStop said the company had decided to discontinue carrying the Zune because, “it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated.”
GameStop representatives also claimed that Zune “did not fit with our product mix,” a clear reference to the “uncool” perception of the Microsoft MP3 player among many retailers and consumers. And it is this “uncool” image that is both Microsoft’s strength, and simultaneously, its biggest weakness.
The decision to try to compete with Apple to produce a Microsoft version of the iPod was clearly a bad move. By trying to get into the portable media player business, Microsoft was playing to its weaknesses, not its strengths. Traditionally, the company has made its mark in the world of business, not in entertainment, fashion or media.
Accordingly, the best thing Microsoft can do is market themselves as a provider of business solutions, and give up trying to compete with Apple as a “hip and trendy” new media company. For decades, Apple computers had been popular with artistic types. Graphic designers, filmmakers, sound engineers and music producers have embraced Apple computers and software as superior to their Microsoft equivalents.
But when it comes to the business world, Microsoft clearly has a big advantage. In millions of offices around the world, Microsoft Windows, Word, Excel and Outlook are considered “must have” tools of the trade. And although Microsoft now has a lot of competition from online resources — Google documents being one clear example — the business world is still Microsoft’s home turf.
The failure of the Zune is in many ways not surprising at all. Microsoft has never had the kind of “street cred” that Apple enjoys. Trying to compete with the Apple iPod, instead of focusing on Microsoft’s business solutions is a clear example of the company’s leadership taking their eye off the ball. Microsoft would do well to remember that their bread and butter has always been the humble office cubicle, and to focus their attention on creating the best office products possible.
It should’ve been sold at a much lower price, from day one, mainly because it didn’t stand a chance against the iPod.
Comment by Claude Gelinas — July 4, 2008 @ 12:14 am