[Darius Wey]

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 stated the magic words: "we won't be undercut by Apple". And David Caulton, who runs the Zunester blog seems to jibe with it all. While not exactly a word-for-word "it's $249 or less", 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 buzz surrounding Wal-Mart and its leak? Like I said in that post, take it with a grain. ;-)

[Darius Wey]

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 stated the magic words: "we won't be undercut by Apple". And David Caulton, who runs the Zunester blog seems to jibe with it all. While not exactly a word-for-word "it's $249 or less", 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 buzz surrounding Wal-Mart and its leak? 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.

[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


submitted by balognytts 23 hours 38 minutes ago (via http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-1…)
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.