Can Microsoft Topple Apple In The Portable Media Market?

by Kipp

Yesterday Microsoft announced its plan for the company’s new Zune device, which will be the company’s flagship portable media device. According to Engadget the device will have the following specs WiFi, 30GB of HDD, built-in FM, a 3-inch screen and music, pictures and video playback. So how does the Zune fit in to Microsoft’s battle against the iPod? Well, Microsoft is working on some differentiating factors, the major one is the device’s social networking capabilities it is going to allow people to share songs and playlists between devices, which the iPod does not offer. It has been speculatate that Microsoft will offer music on a monthly subscription basis vs. Apple’s current pay-per-song offering. So can Microsoft gain market share from Apple in portable media market? Well that depends on several things. The pricing of the Zune, available content and Microsoft’s software offering to me the key factors. Look at the iPod, its success was not solely dependent on the design and functionality of the device, but also its integration with iTunes.

iTunes and its ease of use for those who are not tech savvy have been the keys to Apple’s success, in addition to Apple’s ability to continue the innovation of the device. So the question is can Microsoft catch up? My answer: maybe. If the do it will be a long multiple year process, but it will be hard to convert Apple customers. However, I can see Microsoft attracting customers of other windows based portable media solutions.

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