No Zune For Europe - At Least Not Anytime Soon.
06.04.07 - 03:01pm
In an interview, Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer told to a German magazine “we decided not to enter new markets so far” and will not do so until “after we have reached some of the goals outlined. When this will be the case, I cannot tell you today.”
Ballmer went on to say that the Zune was a business that was losing money and that to go into new markets would be dangerous.
While the Zune will apparently hit the 1 million mark this month, just in time for the June goal deadline, it is still 99 million units behind Apple’s iPod. Thus it is not exactly big news that the Zune has not quite become the “cash cow” that Microsoft has hoped it would be.
Zune product manager Cesar Menendez further clarified the situation, stating, “We will not expand the device family or our geographical footprint until we are positive that we can provide the best experience from the start.”
So perhaps the Zune will launch in Europe after the new Zunes with flash based memories are released in the U.S. (rumored to be coming out around Christmas). It would appear however that the Zune will not be released in Europe till after 2008, that is as long as it doesn’t simply fade away into the sunset.
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