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Zune: a re-badged Toshiba
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http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/08/25/toshiba_ms_zune_details/
http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/25/fcc-reveals-toshiba-1089-and-its-looking-a-whole-lot-like-a/
So much for that then
. It looks like Zune is an alliance of the incompetent. Watch out: uninspiring products ahead 
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DawnTreader
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Could it get any uglier.
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[quote author=“DawnTreader”]Could it get any uglier.
Yes - apparently it comes in brown too
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one white, one black and one brown.
MSFT must have gotten a military contract for brown :dunce:
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Officially resigned from AFB, good luck to all. Q ..... Whatever
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sleepygeek
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Seems to be a development of the Toshiba gigabeat S .
I guess Apple won’t be buying notebook/iPod drives from Tosh so much in the future, then.
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[quote author=“sleepygeek”]Seems to be a development of the Toshiba gigabeat S .
I guess Apple won’t be buying notebook/iPod drives from Tosh so much in the future, then.
Actually, I think it may work out differently… I’m expecting Tosh to give Apple better pricing on their excess inventory ramped originally for the failed Zune player… WHAT a Zune failure!!!!! Who could imagine :D
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Officially resigned from AFB, good luck to all. Q ..... Whatever
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One thing to keep in mind: with Toshiba manufacturing these for Microsoft, margins might actually be pretty decent for them, as Toshiba and SanDisk jointly own several NAND Flash memory fabs. This is likely one strong reason for Microsoft choosing Tosh as a partner. SanDisk and Toshiba are soon to begin manufacturing NAND memory at a 10th of the size on existing chips, further increasing both yield/wafer and margins.
If Zune flops, there will be a lot of excess NAND on the market, which will have a dramatic impact on prices. If you’re in SNDK, then watch out for a backlash in the stock should Zune prove to be a failure.
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DawnTreader
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Remember this is more about QT than the iPod. If (and that’s if) Apple releases an iPod with wireless streaming of QuickTime-based content the fat lady will be singing a tragic ballad for Zune at the Redmond campus.
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“Crunchgear has a scoop from a source that confirms the first generation Zune is an OEMed Toshiba Gigabeat, combined with some added on features and functionality made just for Microsoft. Microsoft had to contract Toshiba to build this first unit so they could rush the player out in time for Christmas 2006, probably before the next generation iPods are due.
After this first model, Microsoft is going to handle all production in-house, making add-on players to the Zune line in the iPod Nano/iPod Shuffle fashion. Also, coming somewhere down the line is a high-end Zune that supports gaming, video and music. – Jason Chen”
How stupid.. rush out a non-descript re-badged player in order to hit the market. You only get one chance to make a splash. If you don’t do it first time, you’re not going to get a second before you get steamrollered by new iPods.
M$ would have done better to have waited and launched something truly great right from the start, even if that meant missing the holiday season. This is typical of their “launch it and they will come” arrogance. They’re in for a nasty shock.
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Update to the last post:
“This was done to make it in time for a Christmas launch and Microsoft will take over production after that, adding many more models to the line including a Shuffle/Nano-style mini players as well as a high end UMPC-like PMP. The PMP is a “monster” with gaming, video, and music built-in, along with the wireless features we’re expecting from Zune.
The Zune will not have an FM-transmitter, as previously described.”
Lol - so a Zune UMPC-PMP which plays games, music, videos, and cleans horses’ hooves. You can bet it will be half again as big, twice as heavy, have a quarter of the battery life of an iPod, and cost at least $700. Typical M$...yet more expensive solutions in search of problems. They give the term “feature bloat” a whole new meaning.
Zune is rapidly turning into the biggest joke of a CE product launch since… mm.. since the UMPC
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“Waiter waiter I’m not happy with my Zach Bass. Would you serve it on a silver platter with an apple on the side please?”
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[quote author=“Tommo_UK”]How stupid.. rush out a non-descript re-badged player in order to hit the market. You only get one chance to make a splash. If you don’t do it first time, you’re not going to get a second before you get steamrollered by new iPods.
That’s what they’ve always done. To quote Guy Kawasaki: “Fast and crappy”.
Trouble is, that only works when a market is in its infancy and you are trying to grab market share. Who will they grab market from?
The equally crappy offerings from Toshiba, Creative, iRiver, Sandisk etc.
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Throughout all my years of investing I’ve found that the big money was never made in the buying or the selling. The big money was made in the waiting. ? Jesse Livermore
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DawnTreader
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[quote author=“wheeles”][quote author=“Tommo_UK”]How stupid.. rush out a non-descript re-badged player in order to hit the market. You only get one chance to make a splash. If you don’t do it first time, you’re not going to get a second before you get steamrollered by new iPods.
That’s what they’ve always done. To quote Guy Kawasaki: “Fast and crappy”.
Trouble is, that only works when a market is in its infancy and you are trying to grab market share. Who will they grab market from?
The equally crappy offerings from Toshiba, Creative, iRiver, Sandisk etc.
Remember, these companies have shareholders who will ask why the comapny hasn’t attempted market entry.
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alcatholic
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[quote author=“Tommo_UK”]One thing to keep in mind: with Toshiba manufacturing these for Microsoft, margins might actually be pretty decent for them, as Toshiba and SanDisk jointly own several NAND Flash memory fabs. This is likely one strong reason for Microsoft choosing Tosh as a partner. SanDisk and Toshiba are soon to begin manufacturing NAND memory at a 10th of the size on existing chips, further increasing both yield/wafer and margins.
If Zune flops, there will be a lot of excess NAND on the market, which will have a dramatic impact on prices. If you’re in SNDK, then watch out for a backlash in the stock should Zune prove to be a failure.
BTW, I’m sure you know this, but these Zune/gigabeat players are 1.8 inch harddrive based, not Nand.
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Off again, on again…
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sleepygeek
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The question is, will MS be so arrogant, that they will discount a failed launch because the gigabeat Zune isn’t the “real” product developed in-house. We’d than get a second round of Zunes in mid-2007.
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[quote author=“alcatholic”][quote author=“Tommo_UK”].....If Zune flops, there will be a lot of excess NAND on the market, which will have a dramatic impact on prices. If you’re in SNDK, then watch out for a backlash in the stock should Zune prove to be a failure.
BTW, I’m sure you know this, but these Zune/gigabeat players are 1.8 inch harddrive based, not Nand.
Yes this first model is HD-based, but M$ are planning a range of Zune devices, many of which are bound to use NAND flash instead.
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“Waiter waiter I’m not happy with my Zach Bass. Would you serve it on a silver platter with an apple on the side please?”
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[quote author=“sleepygeek”]The question is, will MS be so arrogant, that they will discount a failed launch because the gigabeat Zune isn’t the “real” product developed in-house. We’d than get a second round of Zunes in mid-2007.
Yes they will.. they really are that arrogant. They’re used to launching second-rate products to gain a foothold in the market, and following that up with incremental improvements. I really don’t know if that will wash in this market though.
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“Waiter waiter I’m not happy with my Zach Bass. Would you serve it on a silver platter with an apple on the side please?”
