Zune’s chances for success – improving by the generation

The Zune, with little fanfare, was made available to Canadians for the first time on Friday. The real question is ‘does anyone care?’

Initially, the answer for most Canadians will be a resounding ‘no.’

When people think of digital music, the iPod and Apple (generally speaking) come to mind. The iPod is to digital music as Kleenex is to tissues or Google is to search. Apple upped the ante last week in Canada last week with the news that Rogers will introduce the iPhone on July 11. It’s a different device category to be sure but the announcement only served to further reinforce the notion that Apple is at the forefront of mobile music development.

Making the situation more difficult for Microsoft is the negative attention showered on the Zune to date.  What little media attention the Zune has received in the United States has been mostly of the negative variety.

Nonetheless, it’s far too early to discount the software giant as a viable competitor in the fast-growing digital music player market.

Don’t laugh. Look at Microsoft did in the home video game console with its xbox. Sony, with its Playstation, was the leader in that field for a numbers of years. Microsoft, with the latest generation released about two years, has leapfrogged Sony to become the No. 1 console supplier.

This isn’t to say the Zune will overtake Apple’s role as the No. 1 provider of digital music players. Quite the opposite. Apple owns roughly 70% of the market for digital music players, which is a nearly insurmountable gap to overcome.

But Microsoft’s cash and wherewithal makes it a force to be reckoned in the music player market even though it remains far behind Apple and even bit competitors such as Sandisk. Microsoft will make it work. The company needs the Zune to be a success if it is to maintain its status as the de facto personal computing ecosystem leader.

These factors have led to the second iteration of the Zune, which is (apparently) a much improved version of the device that was first released almost two years ago in the United States.

Microsoft wisely threw a lot of spaghetti on the walls when it created the second-generation Zune. Much of it looks like it will stick.

Take for instance the device’s social aspects. There’s an online Zune community which allows you to connect with friends, whose musical predilections you can monitor and mock by tracking their Zune profiles.

Another differentiating factor apparently is the software that helps users organize music on their PCs.

The skins created for the Canadian Zune owners are a clever and fun way to the interest of gadget lovers.

With each iteration, the Zune looks less like a ‘me too’ device.

All of these factors gives the company a much better chance of success in Canada and abroad. By my count, the device can be considered a success if it is to reach double digit market share sometime in 2010. This isn’t a unrealistic goal as the digital player market still has a lot of room to grow.

The company could however do itself a few favours.

Microsoft should allow its device to connect to iTunes. Easier said than done I understand given Apple’s wish to go it alone. Whether its music organization software is irrelevant. The company needs to work out a deal with Apple. Microsoft has leverage in said negotiations.

Second, Microsoft should allow its users to share music more readily. Three shares of a song isn’t enough, which is what Zune users can do currently with their songs. This (proposed) feature will help further differentiate the device from Apple’s iPod and other competitors.

These are ‘perfect world’ suggestions of course and are much more difficult to implement than discuss.

Regardless, people always want alternatives and the digital music player market is no different. The iPod may be cool and/or entrenched in the marketplace. Nonetheless, some consumers will want to try another device if only to be different.

Expect to see a few more Zunes on the hips and in the hands of Canadians in the coming months and years to come.