Zune Sales Slip After Thanksgiving Weekend Burst

From DigitalMusicNews.com

Sales of the Zune player slipped following a solid Thanksgiving weekend,
according to a retail finding from NPD Group. The researcher ranked the Zune
at number five for the latest period, down from an encouraging number two
spot earlier. SanDisk reclaimed its previous second-place position after
cutting prices by a whopping 50 percent, part of an aggressive holiday
blitz. And ruling the roost once again is Apple, whose iPod is comfortably
floating at number one. The iPod commanded a 75 percent market share during
the first nine months of this year, according to NPD.

NPD tracks major retail outlets, though its Thanksgiving finding seemed
incongruous with Amazon rankings. After Black Friday, the high-energy
shopping day that follows Thanksgiving in the United States, iPods dominated
Amazon sales. Within the consumer electronics category, several iPod models
crowded the top ten, while Zune barely made the list. The Amazon figures may
have been a bellwether, especially if Zune buyers are not generating strong
word-of-mouth. The NPD data also excludes Apple stores, where a large
percentage of iPods are sold. Meanwhile, Microsoft is continuing to heavily
advertise, though breakouts like the refreshed iPod shuffle could be
stealing attention.