By Jo Best, 2 November 2006 16:35
NEWS
With the Zune not even on the market yet, the iPod generation are already considering ditching their Apple MP3 players for a Microsoft equivalent, research has found.
A new report from ABI Research has discovered that of those iPod users thinking of buying a new MP3 player, 58 per cent are "somewhat likely" or "extremely likely" to spend their money on a Zune, scheduled to hit shops in the US in November.
Roughly the same percentage of non-iPod owners said they were likely to opt for a Zune when they bought a new MP3 player. (Read: Minority Report: The death of the iPod.)
So why the fluid nature of iPod buying? According to ABI Research analyst Steve Wilson, iPod users don't tend to have the same levels of devotion to their hardware as Mac users have for their Apple gear.
Wilson said Apple will need to come out with some hot products next year to prevent their competitors from catching up.
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However, the shifting loyalties in MP3-player purchasing won't necessarily translate into inflated sales for the Zune. To start shifting units, Microsoft will need to impress upon users how different the device is to its competitors.
But its much publicised music-sharing capabilities are not compelling enough, the analyst said.
Apple's head honcho would certainly agree. Steve Jobs told Newsweek, "It takes forever. By the time you've gone through all that, the girl's got up and left."
Apple's iPod has around 70 per cent share of the MP3-player market. The device recently celebrated its fifth birthday and has shifted over 70 million units since its release.
The creation of the Zune is unlikely to have any immediate impact on the MP3-player market in the UK - Microsoft told silicon.com that there are "no plans" to launch the Zune in Blighty.
Comments
There are 12 comments. Join the discussion
1. bozothedog
Laughing my bum off. Wishing you were here.
2. brent collins
Mark my words, the Zunes will never catch on to the general public like the iPod nor will it prompt more than a few iPod users to switch. I might go as far as to say it will be a fabulous failure.
3. anonymous
We were surprised about the research results, and contacted ABI to get specifics on how the survey was conducted.
For more details on the survey, including the three specific questions asked of iPod owners, you can see our story on Zunerama's blog - http://www.zunerama.com/#061101_zune4_story
Harvey
Editor, Zunerama
4. SiliX
Is this guy paid by M$? Looks like...
5. DB
Most consumers don't buy iPods because they're made by Apple, they buy them because they are small and stylish and easy to use. If Microsoft can make the Zune easier to use and more in tune with the fashion of the moment why couldn't they steal market share.
I own an iPod and its NOT the greatest thing since sliced bread.. if a player presents itself that is more robust has better support for music formats I would look elsewhere.
6. Steve Grover
Absolutely - I WILL switch. I'm onto my third iPod now, largely because I'm a mug but as soon as Microsoft releases the Zune I will give it a go. It's unlikely it will be worse and more likely can only be better.
7. Graham Coles
I seem to recall that Ford thought the Edsel looked cool, drove great and with enough marketing would take the existing car market by storm.
I rarely find MS software intuitive and easy to use. Most likely the zune will require you to agree to a 4800 screen licence agreement, use a complicated everlasting menu/sub-menu system to find the controls and then confirm every click with a dialog box saying 'did you mean to press that ...'
Oh well, at least it has one major innovative design feature that the iPod doesn't - it comes in brown(!)
8. MusicFan
HONESTLY
Who cares! Its just a damn mp3 player.
It doesn't make your dinner for you! It just play's mp3's.
Try doing something productive like making your own music, instead of trying to fill your mp3 player with every tune ever made by man!
Pure flaming report.
9. anonymous
Research is flawed, the majority of people have never heard of Zune.
10. Matt H
I don't own an iPod, and never shall.... the fact that Apple is so protective of it's "Our MP3's & non-one else" ideas put me off from the start.
In my opinion, Creatives Zen players (which I am the proud owner of) are far more superior. They're easy to use, use MP3 and WMA, and I have to say I prefer the look and robust feel to the unit too.
If in the future I require a new MP3 player, I'd buy the Zune providing M$ don't continue to treat the UK and Europe as second class citizens.....
11. nwbutcher
A little misleading. No where does it talk about how many iPod owners are ready to switch. Even if 10% of owners are ready to switch (I think that's a little inflated), it would still only give the Zune 5% market share.
12. Simon
It's interesting to see what questions they didn't ask :
Would you still switch from iPod to Zune when you find out that your music library can't be transferred due to incompatible DRMs ?
and
Having found this out, are you going to lobby for more open and fairer rights management ?