Ballmer: No Zune in Europe in 2007

Microsoft’s plan to release the Zune and the flash Zune in Europe before the year’s end has been cancelled because the Zune is apparently still losing money.

In a recent interview with a German website, Steve Ballmer said:  "so far we lose money in the business because we must invest. Therefore we decided not to go into new markets yet. When are we going to be ready? I cannot say for now". [Translated from German]

This is sad news for Zune fans in Europe. Zune has a growing community overseas, with Zune users, forums and blogs.

What surprises me the most is the fact that Zune being an investment project has been forecasted by Microsoft since the beginning. Microsoft always said that the Zune was at three year investment project. Are they going to wait three years to release the Zune in other countries? Probably not, but after last week announcement on Zune sales being near the million units sold, this means that Microsoft is on track with their original forecast. The Zune team simply changed their original plan. Microsoft is very secretive about the Zune road map and understanding where the Zune is heading is a hard job.

It’s not a bad idea though to consolidate a consumer base in the U.S. before opening new markets around the world.

Let’s see how hard the Zune bashing will hit on the Internet in the next few days… This news certainly comes in a bad time since we felt the Zune was gaining momentum with the release of new colors and special editions. Let’s just hope that this will not destroy all the good marketing efforts done by the Zune team in the last few months.

via i4u

Comments

[Giant-Sheep]

This is very unfortunate. People in Finland have been very impressed by my Zune. They have especially liked the size of the screen and the image quality and I haven't even mentioned the (potential) wifi capabilities. I really think Zune could challenge the iPod in Europe.

[Bryce]

Sad day for Zune...I think the only way they can really grow to dominate is get out there with their product. Waiting to release it is a very bad move in my opinion.

[alen]

Here in Belgium, almost no one knows about it. And when I showed it to my friends, they were like "Is this the new iPod??"...I mean, hello??? But people are certainly impressed by it! They love the big screen and even though you hear a lot of criticism on its size and bad resolution, they say that videos and pictures look better on the Zune. Oh well, I trust Microsoft...they know what they're doing! :D

[KPatel]

I know that this is offtopic, but when is the Zune 2.0 going to be released in the states? On the topic the ONLY way that Zune could challenge the iPod is to have gloal release dates and put the Zune in places where the Zune could have as much or more success in Europe than it has had in the U.S.

[zaragon]

i'm administrator of the Italian Zune community (mondozune.com). j'm sad for this affirmation of Ballmer and me it does not seem a good idea to ulteriorly send back the launch of Zune in Europe inasmuch as the iPod it continues to dominate the market.

[Dorena]

Microsoft really needs to start moving on more accessories for Zune. Ipod is still so far ahead there that people naturally choose them. GOOD affordable car player and home players would be nice. So far there is crap or too expensive. Somewhere middle ground would be nice.