By Antone Gonsalves
InformationWeek
Dec 26, 2006 04:37 PM
The Microsoft Zune failed to make Amazon.com’s list of top sellers in consumer electronics during the holiday shopping season, another indicator of the digital media player’s lackluster entry into the market dominated by Apple Computer’s iPod. Amazon is the largest online-only retailer.
Zune sales dropped significantly after a successful launch week. For the first four days following the Nov. 14 launch, Zune accounted for 9% of unit sales and 13% of revenue in the portable media player market, according to the NPD Group. The device held the No. 2 position during that time, just ahead of SanDisk but well behind the iPod, which grabbed 63% of unit sales and 72.5% of revenue.
During the holiday season, Zune was seldom seen among the top 10 consumer electronics on Amazon. Microsoft, however, says sales have met its internal forecasts, and it expects sales to pick up over time as the company increases marketing and introduces technology enhancements.