Sucks to be them...
I think there's a Zune opportunity is the way Apple partners with retail (poorly).The image to the left illustrates this. The Crutchfield catalog came today, and as they enter the holiday season they've got no iPod images. Why? Because Apple didn't bother to tell them what was coming this holiday, so they had to go with this bland image to avoid showing last year's video iPod and iPod nano. They couldn't even list the products. Echhh....
Note that this was totally unnecessary - Apple could have warned them not to show Nanos but that the iPod wasn't changing, under NDA. But of course it doesn't break Apple's heart if more iPods flow through their own stores instead of others'.
18 Comments:
How do you know that Apple didn't bother to tell Crutchfield? That's a big assumption. I agree that Apple is very secretive about new products, but perhaps Crutchfield did this on purpose so they can have a big spread for the new iPod models.
I can only say "trust me" on this one: Apple never gives retailers or accessory guys advanced notice.
The result is better marketing by apple retail for their new devices and 2-3 months of exclusive accessory sales for apple branded accessories.
When it comes to their Partners Apple is a real Dick. Steve Jobs won't let a thing leak out...and when it does he goes CRAZY. I think treating your partners with respect is one area where you can "Kick the iPod in the Apples".
-Charlie
I just hope I can walk into a Gamestop on launch day and snag a zune with relatively little fanfare. No long lines, easy access to all accessories and such. And, I hope the player is in a lot of stores just in case. To this day, you still can't walk into a random electronics store and pickup a Gigabeat S. They're like precious stones, rare as hell. Hopefully, Zune gets a lot mnore play than it's first cousin.
I have to say, if Microsoft's collaboration with bloggers is any indication of how it's collaborating with retailers, they are going about this in a really smart, open, way.
The interview time we got with Microsoft Zune team on Sep 14 was really generous of Microsoft, and it helped establish our site as a source of Zune info.
So... thanks and please keep it up. Right now it's another differentiator between Zune and iPod.
- Harvey
http://Zunerama.com
Sportsunit:
I personally hope there are annoying shortages due to the vast number of ipod users running to the store to switch to Zune. ;)
But we're doing our best to make sure there's plenty of supply at launch and lots of retailers.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
So, I decided to make some mock-ups of the Zune in several differant skins to give you guys some ideas for "special edition" Zunes or new Zune designs....
Take a look, tell me if you like em'
Check em out on my site DAPularity please.
http://dapularity.blogspot.com/
It seems another way Microsoft could differentiate itself from Apple, would be to release a Zune SDK.
It seems that would encourage developers to create Zune apps - like games, for example - that would cause more people to want to buy Zunes.
David, do you see a down-side to Microsoft releasing a Zune SDK? Are there plans to do so?
- Harvey
http://www.zunerama.com
He answered that previously, there were no plans as of yet to release the SDK. Check out his earlier posts Zunerama.
"Sucks to be them..."
Poor, poor Apple with all that MP3 player market share.
They're sucking all the way to the bank.
Apple knows exactly what they're doing which is why Microsoft is once again poorly mimicking them.
Anybody that didn't laugh at the title of this blog posting probably has a mouth full of brown kool-aid.
Too many pronouns. "Them" isn't apple, it's the retailers. Apple is definitely in the catbird seat here, able to use this kind of tactic to make sure ipods flow through their retail instead of partners.
Yes, just like many Windows 95 users were originally forced to have their web content "flow through" Internet Explorer before several judges decided differently.
I absolutely love how a Microsoft blog is pointing fingers over business tactics.
Not sure what you're referring to re win95, but I never said apple was evil or wrong for their behavior, just that it's an opportunity for competitors.
David, please wake up. People are not going to run to get a Zune.
Why to tell before? Microsoft does that every time and is always the joke of the day.
Microsoft over promised about Vista, and most of the new features got scratched.
There is nothing wrong with Apple’s strategy, that Microsoft criticized but is now trying to copy (and failing, btw).
Yes, yes.
Everything...Apple...does...is...
perfect...and...it's...
impossible...for...them...
to...ever...make...a...mistake.
Got it.
In reference to
"Yes, just like many Windows 95 users were originally forced to have their web content "flow through" Internet Explorer before several judges decided differently."
David, do you not remember the huge anti-trust cases leveled against Microsoft which forced them to de-integrate Explorer from the Windows OS?
To the Previous Anon:
Please know your facts before you post. Have you looked at windows lately? Notice that 'Windows Explorer' looks exactly like 'Internet Explorer'? If you haven't, type a web address into 'My Computer' and see what it does. Also, the main GUI itself is called explorer.exe. It wasn't taken out and that wasn't the fuss. It was the lacking choice of internet browsers which was changed very quickly. Internet Explorer is still very much integrated into the 'OS', as you say. Besides, this is a digression from the point of the forum: the Zune. Please remember the topic in the future and post accordingly.
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