Thursday, May 27, 2004
Microsoft To Offer Low Priced iPod Killer?
Posted by Kent Pribbernow in "NEWS" @ 12:00 PM
"Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, will begin selling portable music players for as much as 80 percent less than Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod. The Microsoft-branded devices will "look and feel" as good as the iPod for as little as $50, said Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of MSN at Microsoft Corp., at the Goldman Sachs fifth annual Internet Conference in Las Vegas. The iPod sells for $249 to $499."
Every portable audio hardware company has its sights set on the iPod, and now it seems the software giant from Redmond is joining the battle as well. With pricing as low as $50, Microsoft could become a very serious threat. But I wonder how good this product will be? Does Microsoft understand that merely having the cheapest product does not guarantee success? If Apple has taught us anything...it takes great software couple with great hardware to make the end to end experience work. Otherwise its just another product.
Every portable audio hardware company has its sights set on the iPod, and now it seems the software giant from Redmond is joining the battle as well. With pricing as low as $50, Microsoft could become a very serious threat. But I wonder how good this product will be? Does Microsoft understand that merely having the cheapest product does not guarantee success? If Apple has taught us anything...it takes great software couple with great hardware to make the end to end experience work. Otherwise its just another product.
