Zune 80 Out of Stock

Last year, I seriously thought that the original Zune needed a flash based entry level player to complete the line up.  After all, this way, folks could get into the Zune line, and then trade up to the fuller featured hard drive player.  That's been the marketing strategy for a certain competitor that makes products in white, and it has worked well.

I was kind of surprised when I saw this story on Ars Technica recently:

The new Zunes are out—mostly. While availability of the 4GB and 8GB flash models is excellent, the black 80GB hard drive model has been hard to find. Microsoft assures us that "high demand" is to blame.

Hard to find a Zune 80?  Apparently, these things must be selling like hotcakes!  The major retailers, including Amazon, Circuit City, and Best Buy all seem to be out of stock on them, and will be for a couple of weeks.  I'm guessing that at least some folks are not going to get theirs under the Christmas tree in time at the rate we're going, and we're only one week from Black Friday.

Were that many folks looking for an alternative to the iPod Classic white 80 GB player?  It seems that they were, and I'm pleased that Zune has designed a compelling product that has generated this much demand.  It's kind of unusual in that their most expensive product is selling the best.  Perhaps Carm's hair isn't as safe as she thought?

Comments

[kevo777]

I think the low inventory of Zune 80's is due to the production mishap earlier in the summer. Do a Google search for "zune 80 production". Yes, it's been hyped and curiosity is high, but let's call a spade a spade.

[Jaxim]

I wonder if the Zune 80 are selling well or if in fact there is a supply problem.

By the way, the iPods no longer come in their iconic white color, which I find kind of odd.

[Jonas]

Thanks for the reminder that the new iPods only come in silver and black for the hard drive versions. Somehow, white was their signature color, and I still think of them in terms of that branding.

[Stephane]

I'm wondering if this Zune 80 shortage could not just give the new flash Zune a boost?

Or maybe buyers will go for the Zune 30 or the 80Gb iPod classic?

[kevo777]

It's a supply problem - period. It's a front cover story at zunescene.com.