Why did Microsoft discontinue the Zune HD?

Anonymous
2011-10-09T23:55:15+00:00

I have been a loyal Zune/XBOX customer for years and now looking to replace my 8gb Zune that I've had for 4 or 5 years and cannot find a Zune HD anywhere. Since it's been discontinued Amazon has jacked up the price of a new one. I honestly think that Zune is far superior to Ipod in the MP3 department. Now I'm gonna be forced to buy an Ipod Touch.  I kinda feel betrayed by Microsoft.

Windows for home | Other | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2011-10-11T04:54:51+00:00

Hi Zombie79,

Thank you for your question and your concern. I believe the answer can be summed up with in the first sentence of the press release, "...going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy, and that we will no longer be producing Zune players". We appreciate and share your feelings regarding the Zune device, however we have decided to move forward with a new strategy and we hope that we will be able to get you back on board soon.

Cheers!

robert

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-01-17T17:15:07+00:00

    Well, you could turn off the phone when you know you'll be listening to music on a windows phone and then all your calls will just go to voicemail, but even so there are many other limitations when replacing a dedicated Zune Player with a windows phone:

    • Windows Phones don't have the amount of memory you'd want to have for a dedicated mp3 player. Currrent Windows Phoines have about 8 GB of memory in total.
    • Battery life on a phone just isn't as long as the battery life on a ZunePlayer.  I need my phone, so if I have to make a choice between listening to music for several hours versus preserving the battery in my phone for phone calls I might need to make, I'll preserve the battery life on the phone.
    • Accessories, windows phone doesn't use the same port as Zune Players and currently windows phones don't provide such an easy way to view video on the phone on a television screen.  The Zune HD and its related AV dock (that includes HDMI and optical digital audio ports) provide the best listening and viewing quality via a digital television or stereo system than windows phone can provide (at this point).

    I love my Windows Phone, but I also love my Zune HD.  In fact, I love my Zune HD so much that I just bought another one from Best Buy, where you can get a refurbished Zune HD (32 gb) for a great price (for the time being anyway).

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-01-17T14:47:27+00:00

    Darn it.. I dont think so.. having a separate player is better than having it all in a phone..  I can see it now, listening to music with my phone docked in the Kicker while having beers with friends and then pulling the phone to make or take a call.  We listen to most of our music with our 30g Zune docked in one of our Kickers either down on the boat or at the house or out camping,  only it bricked this week and we were hoping to pickup a new 32 or 64 HD but come to find out that MS has dropped the ZUNE player, too sad... The ZUNE beat the IPOD hands down

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-01-17T03:06:43+00:00

    We can only hope that when Windows Phone really catches on in the smartphone market, Microsoft will have another go at the Zune device.

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