Zune Sell-Out Forces Us To Reconsider Future Of MP3 Players, Faith In Humanity

jharv | November 16, 2007 5:00 am
zunes.jpeg

Hey, were you actually considering buying a second-gen Zune instead of an iPod? Well, too bad, because you can’t get ’em anymore, at least the 80 gig version. You heard us.

The new Zunes are out–mostly. While availability of the 4GB and 8GB flash models is excellent, the black 80GB hard drive model has been hard to find. Microsoft assures us that “high demand” is to blame…

We looked at numerous online stores. The product has apparently launched, and units have actually been shipped (something Microsoft confirmed), but retailers are out of stock. Microsoft doesn’t have them, Amazon doesn’t have them, Best Buy doesn’t have them, and Circuit City doesn’t have them.

Yeah, we’re boggling, too. Still, this isn’t necessarily a good thing for Microsoft, as Wired wonders if it might be as much (or more) of a cock-up on the company’s part as unexpected consumer demand. Also, I don’t know what this “scarcer than a Wii” stuff is, either; there were half a dozen Wiis just sitting there, forlorn and unbought, at the Burlington, N.J. Target just a few days ago. Tip!

Zune 80 Scarcer Than A Wii, Microsoft Blames Popularity [Ars Technica via Gadget Lab]