Microsoft Zune
- Product Type: Portable Media Player
The Microsoft Zune was not a bad device but this portable media player faced an uphill battle from the start. It had to compete with the worldwide phenomenon that was the Apple iPod. The iPod launched in 2001 while the Zune came out in 2006, which is a big deal honestly. Apple launched the iTunes store around the time the iPod came out, reinventing music buying forever. They cornered the market, meaning Zune users likely needed to use iTunes to download songs anyway. Microsoft was late to the MP3 party and Apple was making changes to address user needs before the first Zune even came out. Thus, any new iPod would be better. It should also not be ignored that Microsoft barely promoted its Zune, so how were people ever going to care about it?