As of July 1, 2011, Microsoft has discontinued its Zune Originals line of customized Zune HD hardware. The Zune Originals program allowed people to purchase Zune HD media players with custom etched art on the back.
This is just another sign that Microsoft will be killing off the Zune brand, likely folding their media properties into the Xbox brand (Xbox Music, Xbox Video, etc.).
I happened upon the following merchandising display at my local Best Buy store today and thought it was interesting and kind of cool. For clarity’s sake, that is a monitor with a looping video in the center of the display.
In my view, this deal is all about buying brand awareness. Despite the fact that Microsoft have similar technology in their Live Messenger products for consumers, Live Messenger is not top of mind for consumers when they want to place a VOIP voice or video call. If Microsoft spent the time and money to integrate Live Messenger video/voice into their product lines such as Xbox and Windows Phone, they wouldn’t see the return on that because most people would just say “but all my friends are on Skype!” and would not use it.
By purchasing Skype, Microsoft can integrate it into all their products (including their business-focused Lync) and have a built-in user base and user mind-share. It will sell more products because people who already use Skype will consider purchasing an Xbox, Windows Phone, etc. because they’ll realize that they can use Skype to connect to all their friends and family by using it.
Additionally, when the LTE networks really start to come online and become the primary network being used by the operators, Microsoft will have a big hammer to swing as the owner of the most prevalent VOIP technology with the largest existing userbase. They can license that technology to the carriers for use as their VOIP technology that will be riding on top of LTE (and future networks).
All in all a very smart move in my opinion. It’s likely not a huge direct revenue generator, but a revenue enabler across their whole range of products and services.
At my local Best Buy store the ZuneHD 32GB model is on sale for $199.99 an astounding $70 off the regular price of $269.99. The 16GB model is $30 off the regular price of $199.99, selling for $169.99.
Is this Best Buy trying to get rid of inventory in preparation for Microsoft discontinuing the Zune hardware?
To be honest, I didn’t spend much time taking pictures or video at MIX11 because I was spending my time listening and learning about what’s coming with the Windows Phone update scheduled for later this year, codenamed “Mango.” However, I figured that I’d share some of the pictures and video that I did capture.
Here are the pictures:
Oh, and I also captured a short video clip:
The party on Wednesday night was rockin’!
