Music, culture, and the inside scoop from Cesar Menendez,
a Microsoft employee working on Zune - Microsoft's new music project.

July 19, 2007

It's Official: Zune Hits (and exceeds) One Million Mark

Today on the earnings call, Microsoft announced that Zune has achieved our goal of one million units sold in, as well as Microsoft earning over $50 billion in annual revenue. We actually went above and beyond our goal: we sold 1.2 million units.

John in S. Florida points this out, too.

 |  Friday, July 20, 2007 2:13 AM  |  79 Comments
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Ricardo Dawkins

w00t!

Sean

Congrats! kinda ironic that it's Zuneinsider's birthday and they have reached their goal. Job well done.

Tablet PC User

Congrats guys!

shravan

Congrats!!!

Marc Cohen

I think it is important to clarify that the 1 million figure is the number MS sold to retailers not to consumers.  There are many units in the pipeline so there are fewer than 1 million in the hands of consumers.

Check out the Ad-Supported Music Central blog:

http://ad-supported-music.blogspot.com/

ZT

1.2 million?!

Woohoo!

1.2 million who didnt listen to the iPropaganda!

Nothing is more cooler than having my Zune. So much of the "popular culture" seem to hate it that a lot of people see it as cool.

ONWARD!

ddv

how does this compare to ipod's first "almost year" sales? Zune went on sale in, what, November? i did some scrounging around and it looks like back in the day ipod didn't sell close to a million units in the same amount of time.

good first offering i say!

Brian

"how does this compare to ipod's first "almost year" sales?"

According to Wikipedia Apple did about 375,000 iPods the first year. Bear in mind the iPod was Mac only and the PMP market was many times smaller than it is today.

Second year iPod did 940,000 with PC support, still a much smaller market than today.

By year 3 (STILL a much smaller market than today) they did about 4.5 million.

JohnCz

Brian, thanks for the background info.  Its a wild guess, but I think Microsoft is probably shooting for 5-7 million units in FY08.  The good news for us is that Microsoft will probably have to announce/release new product, services or move into new markets very soon if they want to reach their target.  

Eddie

Congratulations!

Mancho

zune rocks i am colombian, i have my black zune here, i am the only person with one but im happy with it

Sri

Gr8!! Congrats to the Zune Team!!

Harvey

Congrats, Cesar and the Zune team!

Many doubted you would hit this number, even as a "sold-in" metric. If you HADN'T hit it, there would be many i-told-you-so's in these comments.

Really good to see. Keep it up.

Harvey / Zunerama

RomeoDude

Good Job!  And Zune will only continue to grow...

Michael

Well at least Zune hit it. Now if only they could release some new updates and devices...

Eric John

Well Done Zune team.  Regardless of how we look at it you can't complain about number like that.  Way to Go!

Khubas!!

cody

WOOT WOOT!!!!!

John Caboose

Brian, good point.

But comparing a one year old device to a 3 year old one is not a fair comparison.

I would compare it to the iPods second year, where PC was supported.

I hope Microsoft will continue to push the Zune and make some great innovations that will force Apple to give up their close-to monopoly and compete with the other brands.

Competition is (almost) always good, although I don't use Firefox, I'm glad it's there, otherwise I would probably still be sitting with IE6.

The better the competition, the better the products.

bob e

Lets hope you guys can sell 10-20 million in the next year!  

I love my Zune~

Ahd Child

That is good news to hear, but honestly what I'm really waiting for is news of updates and new features. The Zune has been out for around 9 months and it's feature set is still as basic as the day it came out. Knowing that the Zune was rushed out, I bought one because I knew the hardware was solid and I believed that MS would continue to improve on the software. Well, I'm starting to feel a little abandoned.

It does make me happy when I hear about additions to the Marketplace, meeting sales marks, and releases of new colors/exclusive designs but when am I going to see improvements that make it easier to manage my music, manage my podcasts and discover new music? When MS released the Zune, one of the points that you guys stressed was your commitment to it as more than just a one-shot thing. I'm seeing some commitment to marketing the device, but at this point I've seen no commitment to improving on the technology and experience for current users. I'm starting to get worried - please give me a reason not to be.

- An Early Adopter

MN Zuning

Congrats. I still believe its an excellent player and hope the growth both in sales and features continues.

*patiently waiting for videos on Zune Marketplace*

Zuneless

Looks like Cesar censored another post of mine... Come on, Cesar, it was *funny*, contained no foul language, and even managed to speak positively about the Zune.

On another note, someone said:

"I hope Microsoft will continue to push the Zune and make some great innovations that will force Apple to give up their close-to monopoly and compete with the other brands."

Could you explain what "monopoly" you're talking about? How is Apple's iPod *not* competing with other portable media player brands?

admin

nothing personal, as always zuneless. but the post crossed the "opinion as part of a conversation" line and went into trolling. hehe, I think you're tops though, for the record.

Cesar "Troll-less" Menendez

Tech|noob

Filed under: Desktops , Gaming , Portable Audio , Portable Video Oh sure, Microsoft is kind of bummed

Paolo

Zuneless said:

"Could you explain what "monopoly" you're talking about? How is Apple's iPod *not* competing with other portable media player brands?"

Exactly how Windows is *not* competing with other operating systems? Or that's  monopoly but iPod's is not? :)

Dave Johnson

Either people are too embarrased to display their Zunes in public (ipod fanboys always display their players) or out of the 1.2 million sold, 1 million must be still sitting in stores because I can't find one in public to share with if I had to save my life. I already see tons of iphones, and they have only been out a few weeks.  Maybe I might see some others if i move to Seattle.  I'm getting kinda lonely here!

JJ

Wow thats great about the same number of iPhone sold in it's first month!

C. Lee Smith

I think it's funny when a MS Windows user complains about Apple having a monopoly! I believe the term you wanted to use there was 'market dominance.'

Mark

Zuneless, I have to say any company having that huge of a lion's share of the market is a bad thing. If the zune catches the ipod it will be good for everyone(except I guess apple the company), including ipod fans, because both companies will try to one-up each other and make better products at lower costs.

Dan

great.  thats awesome. now someone tell me when a zune alarm clock dock is coming. memorex and ihome suck at giving me information when i ask them

Scott Kim

Wow, not bad.  It took the iPhone 2 days to hit that volume though.  I've seen Zune displays in stores, they are the ones without any people looking at the product, unlike iPod displays.

nick

brian nailed it, there is no comparison to first year ipod sales and first year zune sales, they re completely different eras and set of circumstances. and channel stuffing doesnt count.

i dont own a zune. i actually have a 4g ipod and am the proud owner of an iphone. but i have noodled around with one in best buy, and im at least somewhat impressed. i like the screen, wifi is interesting, if not nearly useless. how many here actually walk around with the wifi on, or do u keep it off to save battery?

as pointed out in posts above, there are many shortcomings, and little to none of them have been addressed since launch day. no podcast support is inexcusable, and no video in the store is a waste of a nice screen. MS cant expect any significant market share unless they commit to constant innovation. there is no doubt there will be a new ipod by christmas time, apple has let the 5g stagnate for 2 years. if MS doesnt have a major offering, in the face a presumed widescreen, iphone-like ipod, they will lose a significant amount of traction.

yes, competition is good, but only when it competes. and dont expect Jobs to take it sitting down. im sure he would like nothing more than to crush any microsoft encroahment on his territory under his signature new balances

Predrag

This is remarkable. One million in nine months. Initially, they were $250, but quickly went down to $220. Now, if I am not mistaken, some three weeks ago, a competitor released a (much hyped) product with similar functionality to zune (plus the cellphone) and sold, what, one million in first two weeks? At twice the price? In a market where competitors sell for $0 (with a subsidy)?

Still, million is a million. Points for effort.

Dennis Acevedo

Maybe if the Zune supported Divx, you would have 10 million. I'm just sayin....

Gizmodo

Woooo! Woooooooooooooooooooooooo! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!! Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! FAAAAAART!! [Zune Insider]...

admin

ok, as riveting, fresh, and original  the "microsoft vs apple: monopoly edition" conversation is, I've got to shut it down. Love you guys ;)

BJ Nemeth

Congratulations on hitting (exceeding?) the Zune sales goal, Cesar. I've been impressed with everyone I've read about on the Zune development team, and I wish all of you nothing but the best. (And I wish you were given more freedom to do the kinds of things I think you want to do.)

However, those in the comments who are comparing Zune's first 8 months to the iPod's first 8 months are delusional. It's a completely different marketplace at this point. Early iPods were selling for $400 at a time when most consumers still purchased/listened to their music in a physical form (like compact discs).

Nowadays, a large group of consumers have their music catalogs in a purely digital format, ready to dump into any waiting MP3 (or MP4) player. Telling someone with a digital catalog to spend $250 on a music player is completely different from telling someone with 500 CDs to spent $400 on a music player that would require a lot of work to get their music onto. (FYI, I bought a 2nd-generation iPod, and it took me about four hours a day, five days a week, for a *month* to rip all of my CDs into MP3. And it was definitely worth it!)

Are people comparing iPhone sales to Motorola's first-ever cellphone, because this is Apple's first cellphone? Of course not. There *have* been some comparisons to the Razr's opening sales, because it's the only other cellphone that has ever been the hot, trendy thing -- and the iPhone's opening sales are an order of magnitude higher than the Razr's opening sales were.

The Zune is competing in a mature market for music players, while the iPod was competing in a niche market. You can't compare iPhone sales to cellphones back in 2001, just as you can't compare Zune sales to iPods back in 2001.

Michael Long

Of course, who wants to bet on whether or not Apple has sold more than a million iPhones? And it hasn't even been on the market 30 days...

And that's sold to actual paying customers, not sitting on store shelves.

BJ Nemeth

Oops! Your post went live shortly before mine, Cesar, and I didn't see it until after I posted alonger comment. You hereby have my permission to delete my post right before this one. Sorry!

Your playground is a very welcome and friendly one, with very open rules. When you do set a rule or restriction (few and far between), I will gladly follow it.  :-)

ZT

Gizmodo?

After the three week long free ad for the iPhone, that basically cost them what little credibility they had, you would think they would work on their balance.

zune luvr

I can't wait for the ZunePhone!!!

Gustavo

Call me crazy, but I've never seen one of these in the wild.

ian01nl

well, 1 and 6 zeros is quite good for a pretty duff player. Microsoft usually (eventually) make cool products (xbox360 springs to mind) but ZUNE needs to innovate and not copy iPOD. Would love to see a ZUNE mini notebook, touchscreen with audio, ebook,mini MS office capabilities...playing to Microsoft's strengths...blow away everyone with a really small portable device..not a phone (mac has done that) but a mini laptop ZUNE....will never happen...unless of course Apple releases the iPODmacBOOKnano.......

woodink

I know this is off topic but dose anyone have any clue when the next firmware update will come out and want can we look forward to

Nelson

In other news, Harry Potter outsells the Zune and the iPhone

See how smart you look comparing products in different fields to each other?

Maybe this will make some of those "iPhone sold that in a week" posters think twice. Probably not.

Stephen R Gibson

"Of course, who wants to bet on whether or not Apple has sold more than a million iPhones? And it hasn't even been on the market 30 days...

And that's sold to actual paying customers, not sitting on store shelves."

Oh, please stop this iPhone vs. Zune stuff. The iPhone is a phone/internet device with built-in iPod functionality. The Zune is a Personal Media Player. They are two totally different devices. iPod and Zune is fine, but until there's a Zune Phone, you can't draw a comparison.

admin

Looks like this post is getting a few links. I want to say: welcome! if this is your first time here, take a look at the comment policy:

http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2006/11/27/if-your-comment-got-deleted-here-s-why.aspx, thanks,

cesar

Cheese

Excellent News!  I knew it.  Zune is here to stay.

Nelson

Congrats to the Zune Team!

There is only one way to go, and that's forward. Zune is more than the PMP you buy at the store, it's a gateway to new music that previously I would of never even heard of.

It goes above and beyond the call for a PMP, this is something uncommon in devices today.

The amount of conversation and connection with the Zune Team itself is what makes the Zune a winner.

Here's to many more millions to come.

br

I don't doubt for a second your 1.2 million sell in number, but I don't see a reference to it in any MS filings or even pr.

br

Woody56292

Great job zune team.

-Woody

Tech|noob

Woooo! Woooooooooooooooooooooooo! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!! Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

mazola

It's official!

Cesar's deleted One Million of my posts.

w00t!

Lil' Bluesboy

Hi Nelson! The way i see it, Apple has released in the iPhone (despite the product's name) a next-gen, ultra-cool video and internet capable iPod with built-in email and phone functionality!

lbastos

1.2 million in the USA only. I am in France and got my zune imported because I know some people who know some people...

apple sells its ipod to 7 billion humans, not 300 million Americans. wait for the internationalization of the zune!

Selcouth14

Yay.

Josh's Windows Weblog

This week the Zune officially crossed the one million units sold mark. Too bad the iPhone did that in

Gnuek

Mac sold the same number of iPhone in a couple of days only in America. Although it cannot be used for direct comparison, I do believe Zune is far more behind. There's a long long way for catch up...

Jije

James

Congrats Zune. I'm a Zune user for the long haul.

I can't wait to see what the future has to offer.

lbastos

do you know the number of Zune owners using the marketplace? How many downloads?

Custa

I'm making an educated guess that Apple have sold more iPhones in the past month than this figure.

Lara

I took my Zune on a trip to DC, and my friend sitting next to me looked over and said "Zune?"

I started on him to not bash it as he had an iPod in his hand, but to my surprise he said if he didn't have that 3rd gen crap in his hand he'd have a Zune. w00t.

Now if only I could find another Zune to share with...maybe that'll change once I head back to my college campus?

Don Williams

Hmmmm, congratulations I guess? It took you a little while, but hey, one million Zunes is about what Apple sells every eight to nine days, so the best of luck!

As for the iPhone, I think the point is, it may be a convergence device, but most of the one million plus iPhones, including an estimated 700,000 plus in it's first week, still sold more than the Zune despite the high cost. Hell, people from Asia and Europe flew in to buy the thing even though they can't use the phone, and have to really work to get the music player to play on it's own without going through AT&T..

All the best to the Zune team. You got a way to go before you can celebrate over 100,000,000 units sold as did the iPod in the past few years, but we all know that you will do better next time, just as Apple will with it's new multi-touch iPods that should come out in time for the holiday season.

Ciao

Rory

I guess it's a good time for these headlines to start popping up then: "Microsoft Zune 2.0 hitting stores before holiday season"

Eric T.

I just want to say congratulations to the Zune team and continued success in everything they do.  I love my Zune, have never had a problem with it's use and it does what it's suppose to do.  Having videos and podcasts would be nice, but it's not the all or nothing thing that I think alot of people make it out to be.  The Zune is a digital music player, and to me it does it's function well.  Caeser keep up the good work and please let the rest of the team know that too.

Tech Digest

Microsoft's promise to shift a million Zune personal media players by the end of June wasn't an idle one: the company's latest set of financials included an announcement that the device had actually sold 1.2 million units.

Skeptik

A survey from Eagle Research Group says that Zune owners may not be satisfied with the device, reported AppleTechNews. A survey undertaken by them shows that 70% of those questioned were intended to switch either to an iPod or iPhone.

The survey said ahead that the most convincing features of the iPhone is the ability to browse through music lists easily and also unlike other music players it allows to make calls too.

Other 30% who did not want to switch to iPhone said that the iPhone’s memory is too short and 22% say that they don’t like Apple, so they do not want to buy its products.

AppleTechNews also reported that 36% of Zune owners said that they would not have bought Microsoft’s Zune player if they knew Apple would produce such a revolutionary product like iPhone.

『ピギ』

so reading these comments I discovered there's people who actually like the zune

cool(?)!

http://www.appletechnews.com/news1/news112.7.19.07.html

clang

Congrads on lower expectations, why not set the bar at 10,000 units then ready have something to celebrate!

It all about market share, not units

The one thing Zune should be happy about is that they own second place (Seriously) - what happened to iRiver, and Creative? they didn't even put a  fight

Mac Tec

I work on repairing Mac products all day at work and other PCs when I get home so I know to question any propaganda Mac puts out about quality and quantity.  My question is if Mac sold 500,000 the first weekend then why is AT&T saying it activated only 146,000 I-phone customer?  http://ce.seekingalpha.com/article/42109  Did every one get it as an 8 gig I-pod?  Who is padding their sales numbers?  My employer got me an I-pod,wWish I could trade it for the Zune.

admin

update - I removed a few trolling comments. Basically, if you have a legitimate critique about the topic, cool. see bj's comment: http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2007/07/20/it-s-official-zune-hits-and-exceeds-one-million-mark.aspx#9678

if you're coming here, with a 4 point essay which basically equates to "Zune sucks!" then, you know. . . trolling.

your pal,

cesar

Here is something to look forward to!

Apple sold 10 million Ipod in the last 3 months.  Heres something for the Zune to look forward to!

Gizmo Cafe Blog

Apple announced record Mac sales and huge third-quarter earnings. Are we seeing a return to Apple’s glory

pancake waffle joe pants

My black Zune is LEAKED! (if you're stupid and dont know what that means it means AWESOME!) I hope they eventually make Linux. Like there is for iPod.

Rodney

I'd like to comment on Brian's comments. While the market was smaller in apple's first few years than today, you ALSO have to note there was also far less competition when the ipod was first launched in the market. Also more people have since purchased an MP3 player, meaning there are far less potential buyers are the present time than there were before, thus this evens things out a between the Zune and the Ipod, meaning that 1 million sold is a great achievement in this market at it's present time.

alwaysdawg

That's awesome! 1.2 million, wow! Great work you guys!!!

your mom

Ha keep  trying to beat  iPod's  120 million!!!

you won't

ZUNE SUCKS!

dumb

I am dumb

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About admin

I'm Cesar Menendez. I left the Xbox marketing world for Microsoft's new foray into music - Zune. Community, cool videos, music, discovering new music - these are things I love. In the past I wrote music reviews for RealNetworks, and before that I volunteered at KCMU (now KEXP). Get in touch w/ me using this email: AskZune (then type the at symbol) microsoft.com (please no solicitors)
(edit me)

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