roundup of price reactions
So, now the Zune pricing for holiday is officially out. I got a lot of reaction in the comments section and I wanted to bubble them up into the blog...
Comment 1: "Hey, you said Zune wouldn't be undercut, but now you're at 249.99 vs their 249.00!"
Answer: Ok, you got me. I actually didn't realize there'd be a $0.99 price difference in MSRP when I posted, but I hope this difference won't turn anyone off? Would you believe the difference reflects the cost of the sharing-enabling wifi antenna? Of the cool doubleshot finish?
Comment 2: $179 for a year of service? Really?
Answer: Really. All-you-can-eat, portable subscription services all (well, amost all) end up at $14.99/month for a reason - the reason is the cost of running the service. You're either someone who wants to pay this for an all-you-can-eat service (AYCE), or you're not. If you are, great - join the party. If you're not, then that's fine too...buy a Zune and use it for your personal ripped content and buy tracks for $0.99 just like with those guys down in Cupertino.
fwiw, I think longer term the AYCE service will become more and more valuable for music enthusiasts. The argument isn't about the sheer quantity of music, but about the scenarios that are enabled by these services. Music discovery way beyond sampling, user-created syndicated playlists that sync to devices, podcasts that include legally distributed copyrighted content, unlimited music sharing between subscribers...the list is pretty long and pretty cool.
17 Comments:
Well...I understand that the All you can eat offers a lot of value for music enthusiests...but I assumed that many of the "the scenarios that are enabled by these services"
would be what set the Zune apart from the iPod, and really took music to the next level. But instead of making the scenarios that you talked about the Zune experiacne that everyone will have, you have set the price to a point where it will create a barrier to this.
Now not only will there not be widespread subscription adoption, but the DRM aspect of the Zune (3x3 deal) becomes much more important, because as I understood it if you had the unlimited pass you could use the song as you normally would...
-Charlie
I think I agree with David. The subscription makes a lot of sense for music enthusiast. Any one who buys on an average of 15 or mor CDs every year can hop on to subscription. However for others it might be better to stick to buying music. There are a few points here:
1. MS will probably loose money on the Zune device, so they cannot take loss at Zune
Marketplace too.
2. The music industry probably will not be happy with selling music at a loss.
3. MS is not going with the strategy of buying people into Zune. It’s going to be
more of a war with features to feature with iPod and creating a brand name for Zune. At this point if we look for feature to feature comparison, Zune wins easily. However I do understand that for most people just the WiFi is not enough (today) and in a market which is run by ‘cool factor’, there might be some truth to it. However we keep forgetting that the first Zune device is a starting platform. Firmware update next year and second generation Zune device is where the fun is going to begin. Also the FiWi will allow MS to push some innovative idea. And we will really get into some interesting time when Zune integrates with xBox and Vista.
And as Zune pushes forward with its strategy, it will hope to push subscription service to people who can afford it and are music enthusiast but don’t know the benefits of subscription service (this is a sizable proportion). The rest of course will follow the tried and tested buying model, which has been so well proven by iPod.
I think the Zune strategy is to give people something which they themselves do not know that they are missing. That’s why sometime there is confusion over WiFi and people sometimes think it’s not a big deal.
What excites me is the fact that MS is so heavily betting on the Zune features, I bet there are a lot of exciting features which will be incorporated. Where one’s whole strategy is to push features and educate people about it (and create new market where there was none), those features better be innovative and exciting.
Well I am all for it.
Rohit
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I think the pricing decisions are very competitive. Comparably, if you see what Apple offers as opposed to Microsoft you are getting several hardware and internal specification mediums that the 5th generation iPods just can't match at a price that is on par. I would love to get a Zune right now but I am waiting for a 60gb version(pleeease say it is coming soon!) so I can use it more for video storage. That gorgeous screen is just waiting for all of my animes! Furthermore, since I live in Indiana nobody has even HEARD of the Zune. You guys gotta get marketing campaigns out. The only way I found out is because I junky around a Engadget all the time.
While the viral marketing technique has always been an easy way to attract attention, I think your heavy hitter is to actually show the Zune. People are just too lazy to go looking for this stuff you guys need to throw it at them. Also, I think the whole "I'm a Zune", "I'm an iPod" commercial that you talked about before would get TONS of attention. You wouldn't believe how everyone was noticing and disagreeing with Apple's "I'm a Mac" commercials. This boosted their popularity even if it wasn't positive. I'm sure if this type of commercial would boarderline copy-right infringement and since iPod is "sue-crazy" lately they might actually stand up to Microsoft.
The DRM is an aspect of the Zune some people will disagree with I'm sure. I have been spreading the DRM feature around when I introduce them to the Zune, and while they like the fact that you can share your music they don't like the fact that you can't SHARE your music, but rather let people borrow it for 3 days or plays. Many people believe that if you did buy the music, why should you not be able to give it away. Of course, most people don't concider the precautions to such...
Hey, my mom has heard of Zune and she lives in Indiana! ;)
I think you'll be pleased with the volume of marketing this holiday season.
What about comparing to services like Yahoo! Music Unlimited. Currently I'm only paying 60 bucks a year for all I can eat. Why is MS charging so much more? You've got to have more infrastructure in place than little ole Yahoo! :)
i agree with the early post.
yahoo charges $5/year
napster charges $10/year
MS seems to be the most expensive subscription service...is it because you have more servers, more content?
Maybe they allow unlimited video downloads too? *dreams*
Cool, I could meet David Caulton's mom.
So, not to nit, but comparing Zune's portable subscription (meaning can be synced to a device) with the others' PC only versions isn't exactly apples/apples. Yahoo's portable subscription is nos 11.99 monthly, and Napster is 14.99. The labels charge more for portable copies.
Note that at that price Napster isn't breaking even as a company, and while Yahoo is burried in other company data they're under water at that price too.
it's very hard to make a profit on content sales/subscriptions.
Exactly. People keep quoting the Full year "up front" price and/or the non-portable price for these other music services. Either they don't read the fine print, or they are trying to make things seem worse than they are.
Personaly I have a YMU subscription, the non-portable version, and I have a Sirius radio subscription as well. When Zune Launches I'll be cancelling both of those subscriptions and getting on-board with Zune.
I think the pricing structure is just fine. as mentioned the subscription service is not for everyone but a great service for those that purchase that much music.
I personally feel the ability to truly experience a wide variety of new music is worth the subscription price. For the money you can listen to dozens of albums you may never have heard if not for the risk free subscription based pricing.
The 3x3 deal seems fair although a bit too limited for some. Will we be able to share music we receive under the subscription via 3x3?
Also I understand the WiFi only allows you to access an existing wireless network for sharing. So two Zunes cannot share without a seperate network to attach to. Is that the case?
Most likely no, for example The PSP uses an "AdHoc" mode that allows it to communicate with other PSPs without having to be on a network. This is most likely how the Zune will work... no networks attached per-say.
For alittle more insite....
ad hoc is a network connection method which is most often associated with wireless devices. The connection is established for the duration of one session and requires no base station. Instead, devices discover others within range to form a network for those computers. Devices may search for target nodes that are out of range by flooding the network with broadcasts that are forwarded by each node. Connections are possible over multiple nodes (multihop ad hoc network). Routing protocols then provide stable connections even if nodes are moving around. Both Nintendo's DS and Sony's PlayStation Portable use ad hoc connections for wireless multiplayer gaming.
Will the Zune's wifi be able to communicate with 802.11 b/g laptops(is it b and g, or just b?), my linksis router [home network], and 7th generation console (purposefully leaving this vague). Will there be any option of a plugin to a friend's iPod to "zune" some of his music?
Are you the right person to ask?
Thanks!
oh, and what's the story with search and USB OTG?
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