What Should Microsoft Do?

[David Tucker]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://revolver360.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/what-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-make-zune-more-competitive/' target='_blank'>http://revolver360.wordpress.com/20...re-competitive/</a><br /><br /></div><p>&nbsp;</p><p><em>"Let&rsquo;s be honest, Microsoft has done a bad job at promoting both its Zune HD product and the Zune brand itself. One reason most people say &nbsp;Microsoft jumped into the mp3 market was to compete with Apple and iTunes. &nbsp;Fast forward and Microsoft Zune is barely a whisper. Apple currently controls the mp3 market, Microsoft is not even in 2nd place. Sandisk holds that position. &nbsp;I&rsquo;ve come up with a few suggestions that Ballmer needs to do to make Zune better"</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//wpt/auto/1275140951.usr307.gif" style="border: 0;" /></p><p>A blogger by the handle of THEPHOENIX720 has posted <a href="http://revolver360.wordpress.com/2010/05/28/what-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-make-zune-more-competitive/" target="_blank">five things</a> that he feels Microsoft needs to do to make the Zune a success. &nbsp;And let&rsquo;s not beat around the bush here, I think the Zune really is, from a sales standpoint, a failure. &nbsp;The technology of the platform is sound but Microsoft dropped every ball it could with it. &nbsp;THEPHOENIX720 is pretty much right on the money with his suggestions. &nbsp;The only problem is that Microsoft should have done everything he suggested YEARS ago.</p><p>Now it&rsquo;s never too late to remake yourself or a product. &nbsp;Apple, in the past decade, has enjoyed a resurgence that no one can claim they saw coming. &nbsp;Microsoft made a huge blunder with Windows Vista only to completely recover with Windows 7. &nbsp;Companies and product lines can be salvaged. &nbsp;But Microsoft has to make an effort! &nbsp;Apple didn&rsquo;t save itself only by making some good hardware. &nbsp;The iPod itself is a good MP3 player but their advertising campaign was perfect. &nbsp;Their advertising for their computers, iPhones, and iPad have all been right on the money.</p><p>Microsoft however couldn&rsquo;t convince you to buy an umbrella in a downpour. &nbsp;I don&rsquo;t know why that is. &nbsp;The other points about product synergy and pushing the Zune Pass all SEEM obvious. &nbsp;Yet, Microsoft has never followed through. &nbsp;The original promises of what the Zune could be are finally starting to come to fruition on the Zune HD but never really quite made it there.</p><p>In a way, I think Microsoft should go with his fifth option, which is to kill the Zune HD. &nbsp;Before you get too outraged, hear me out! &nbsp;Windows Phone 7 has Zune capability. &nbsp;The Kin has Zune capability. &nbsp;Clearly, Zune has finally become more than just about the Zune player. &nbsp;With the Zune available in multiple formats, Microsoft should do what they did with Vista and give us a "new" Zune. &nbsp;Then you can push the heck out of it. &nbsp;Not saying it would work but sometimes wrapping a good product in a new package lets you promote it in new ways. &nbsp;Microsoft doesn&rsquo;t even measure on the market share meter here so what do they really have to lose?</p><p>What does anyone else think Microsoft can do to get the Zune back on track?</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

[djrudiak]

Maybe they could sell the Zune in international marketplaces?

Could you imagine Microsoft only selling XBox or Windows & only in the USA?

As long as they only sell the Zune in the USA it reeks of a Marketing Beta project. If I were in the USA I would be cautious about buying a Zune as I would not have the confidence that this is a long term product.

It wasn't just that they didn't make the HD and Marketplace not available in Canada, but they KILLED the remaining product line here as well. They toyed with the consumers and the major electronics retailers here in Canada for a year and then pulled up tent pegs and left.

If they want to be taken seriously in this market space, they need to behave as such. (Of course, one might argue that this is a Marketing Beta project...)

[David Tucker]

Maybe they could sell the Zune in international marketplaces?

Could you imagine Microsoft only selling XBox or Windows & only in the USA?

As long as they only sell the Zune in the USA it reeks of a Marketing Beta project. If I were in the USA I would be cautious about buying a Zune as I would not have the confidence that this is a long term product.

Until the release of Kin & Windows Phone 7, I would have agreed with that sentiment. I was starting to feel a bit nervous about Zune's future within Microsoft but I think the fact that its fate is tied to Windows Phone 7 means a couple things. One is that Zune is still important. Two is that it will soon, I'd hope, be available internationally since Microsoft can't want to only sell its phones in the US. But I agree with you...the Zune simply has to be international. There was no excuse for going longer than 6 months without it.

It wasn't just that they didn't make the HD and Marketplace not available in Canada, but they KILLED the remaining product line here as well. They toyed with the consumers and the major electronics retailers here in Canada for a year and then pulled up tent pegs and left.

All of their efforts whether in the US or Canada have been equally half-hearted. :rolleyes:

[Sven Johannsen]

The guy's a genius. Who would have thought of advertising, [head slap]. No Steve, they won't come, if you just build it. They have to know about it, and believe they want it.

Zune in other MS products? How about just de-fragmenting MS's media landscape. I've had Plays-For-Sure, Portable Media Center, Zune, Pocket Media Player, for portable devices. Heck for the desktop right now I have Media Center Edition, Media Player, and Zune.

Zune Pass? What's that? Oh, they're just copying Rhapsody. Kind of goes back to that first thing, eh. MARKETING. I've actually seen the Rhapsody ads....often.

As far as killing the Zune? Probably a bad idea at this point considiring how it features in their phone space. It would send an odd message at this point IMHO.

Not sure what to say about point 4 in the article. Can't really refute it.

[gdoerr56]

Microsoft lacks the kind of single cohesive leadership that Apple has with Steve Jobs. Microsoft used to have that in the form of Bill Gates but Mr. Gates, post DOJ, just didn't offer that kind of leadership anymore.

The reality is that once Apple has to deal with the DOJ (soon...) and Mr. Jobs moves on, they too will suffer the fate of Microsoft and products that "Missed it by this much".

With the departures of Allard and Bach, Microsoft needs to find itself a visionary product leader can help it make sense of the great core technology they have access to and give them carte blanche.

[jimmyfal]

WHEN, Microsoft either hits or comes close to the 30 mil mark in WPH7 sales next year, plenty of people will be playing with the Zune software, and seeing first hand how easy it is to use and what a pleasure it is to play around with. It will sell itself. HOWEVER, that is NO excuse for Microsofts completely ignoring the marketing of this platform. I HAVE to believe that they have something up their sleeve. NO company can be THAT clueless, and expect a product to survive. If they are then they deserve to go up in flames.
jf

[egads]

As a 48 year old I'm not Microsoft's (or Apple's for the matter) target age group. MS does not need to hire visionaries to design new hardware and software, they need to hire advertizing visionaries and flood all the media channels. MS would also kill with a deciently priced family plan Zune pass.

<O:p</O:p
Along that same line, another thing MS could could do to jump to #1 with any phone & OS is to work with the cellular carriers and get a $15 a month unlim data plan or a $40 a month unlim family data plan. You could have total crap for hardware and software and people would flock to buy your stuff.<O:p</O:p

[David Tucker]

WHEN, Microsoft either hits or comes close to the 30 mil mark in WPH7 sales next year, plenty of people will be playing with the Zune software, and seeing first hand how easy it is to use

I think who ever told them they could come anywhere near 30 million phones next year should have their head examined. If they hit half that I'll be shocked.

[The Yaz]

I'm a fan of the Zune HD and it kills me that Microsoft never seemed to put enough effort into it to make it work (how long did it take them to add Facebook & Twitter?!?).

To add insult to injury, they would not let anyone build apps for it so there was no groundswell of interest for it.

Like others have posted, there has never been much advertising for the HD. I did see some adds for the Kin this weekend, but there is no way I'm paying that much a month for a data service when my kids do not need much outside of unlimited texting and some minutes for calls.

I would like to see Microsoft stop trying to match Apple and actually play to their advantages for once. Take the Zune pass over the air; reduce the fee to $5 a month and offer a free 3G connection on the next Zune HD player similar to the Kindle's whispernet. Then you can build a base who use the Pass and upgrade them to the Win 7 phones like Apple does with the Touch.

No matter what they try, Microsoft has to understand any solution they try will fail in the short term. There is just a malaise to Microsoft's name right now that they would have to fight through. They would be better of breaking the Zune brand out as its own company to distance itself from Microsoft so it can be viewed on its own merits without the usual biase.

[USArcher]

** Beyond rolling Zune MarketPlace out to international markets...something that is likely to happen with WP7 availability...I think they should also.

1. De-phone Kin One and make it a replacement for Zune 4/8. Add SD slot. You have to have at least one Zune portable device.

2. Drop ZuneHD and let partners go after 8-10" Slate/Tablet market with Windows Phone 7 "Metro" UI, MarketPlace and integrated Zune software. BUT, nothing should happen until the first wave of Slate/Tablet "Metro" devices hit retail.

3. Restructure Zune Pass to meet different price points, one of which should be included with the XBox Live Gold.

4. Make Zune branded Media Center Extender...< $99. v3 Extender should also be able to consume content directly from the web if no Media Center exists on the home network.

[David Tucker]

** Beyond rolling Zune MarketPlace out to international markets...something that is likely to happen with WP7 availability...I think they should also.

1. De-phone Kin One and make it a replacement for Zune 4/8. Add SD slot. You have to have at least one Zune portable device.

2. Drop ZuneHD and let partners go after 8-10" Slate/Tablet market with Windows Phone 7 "Metro" UI, MarketPlace and integrated Zune software. BUT, nothing should happen until the first wave of Slate/Tablet "Metro" devices hit retail.

3. Restructure Zune Pass to meet different price points, one of which should be included with the XBox Live Gold.

4. Make Zune branded Media Center Extender...< $99. v3 Extender should also be able to consume content directly from the web if no Media Center exists on the home network.

I like all of your ideas!

[Roden]

Another problem MS has is they don't have ANY (well a couple of crappy things) 3rd party hardware. NOT a single dock that can integrate in a house. We do home automation systems and MS is SOOOOOOOOOO behind they just don't get it... Every manufacurer I work with has an iPod dock. I see the meta data on my touch screens and have complete control over the music... NOW, there are some serious short commings to the iPod and integration where MS could really stomp Apple but not until they work with an Automation manufacturer to make something.... OH, and every single one of my clients owns at least 4 iPods. Every family member has either an iPod, iTouch or iPhone. I'm a Zune lover and I even own an iPod so I can test what I install. Steve got my 150.00 and I hate the damn thing.