Microsoft: "We Won't Be Undercut By Apple"

[Darius Wey]

<img alt="" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/zt/2006/wey-20060921-dollar.jpg" /><br /><br />Well, those of you hoping for Zune to be cheaper than the 30GB iPod have a reason to stay positive. Matt Jubelirer, a product manager for Zune, recently <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/ZDM/story?id=2439651">stated</a> the magic words: &quot;we won't be undercut by Apple&quot;. And David Caulton, who runs the <a href="http://www.zunester.com/">Zunester blog</a> seems to jibe with it all. While not exactly a word-for-word &quot;it's $249 or less&quot;, this is one of the strongest hints yet that the iPod won't be beating the Zune on price this Christmas. Oh, and all that <a href="http://www.zunethoughts.com/news/show/81/wal-mart-says-284.html">buzz surrounding Wal-Mart and its leak</a>? Like I said in that post, take it with a grain. ;-)

[Damion Chaplin]

If they can get the price down to $229, I'll buy one as soon as I can. Then Apple may be forced to lower their prices (at least temporarily for the holiday season) to compete.

1 2 3 4, I declare a price war. :D

[David Tucker]

My brother is wavering between a Zune & an iPod right now. When I told him about the rumored price of around $225 the Zune picked up a few points. I really think that would be a great value to see sitting next to the iPod in Best Buy.

[Jason Dunn]

Cool stuff - that's exactly what I was hoping to hear from Microsoft. They're huge underdogs in this fight, they absolutely cannot afford to get knocked out in the first round at retail by a consumer looking at the Zune versus the iPod and seeing that the 30 GB iPod is less expensive.

[Caliente]

From DiggMicrosoft Zune for $99? - Alpha Blog - alpha.cnet.com (http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6643064.html?tag=blog)


http://digg.com/userimages/b/a/l/balognytts/small4590.jpg (http://digg.com/users/balognytts) submitted by balognytts (http://digg.com/users/balognytts) 23 hours 38 minutes ago (via http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-1… (http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6643064.html?tag=blog))
Respected blogger Mike Evangelist theorizes that the Zune could be massively subsidized by Microsoft to gain overnight market share. Since a big part of the Zune revenue picture is subscription-based content, why not "give" away devices (hoping for a lifetime of subscription dues) in a market that's still dominated by Apple?
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$99 - this could be a stroke of genius. A price like this would seriously rock Steve Jobs RDF. Bundle with a 6/12 month compulsory subscription to Zune Marketplace for INSTANT market share with the real potential to destroy the iPod stranglehold.