Microsoft has no plans to kill off Zune

In the face of a 54 percent revenue drop last quarter, there’s been a lot of speculation going around (myself included) as to what’s going to happen with the Microsoft Zune. Microsoft has now come out and said that it has no plans to deep six the hardware or the software and that there will indeed be a new Zune lineup later this year.

Adam Sohn, director of marketing for the Zune, said the following in an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

“Every time anything comes up, there is a set of people who pull a Chicken Little and say, ‘The Sky is Falling. Zune is dead.’ The fact is we are on track to deliver the next generation of Zune innovation in software and hardware. The planning is fast and furious. We will deliver progress this calendar year.”

Robbie Bach of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division also told the Seattle PI at CES recently that the slower revenue was expected this past holiday season.

“Truthfully that category, Apple and us, didn’t grow like it did last year. But Zune did fine. Right about our expectations and we feel pretty good about the direction that’s going.”

So there you have it. The sky is definitely not falling on the Zune and Microsoft will continue to develop both the hardware and the software.

Microsoft explains why Zune sales dropped 54 percent [Seattle PI via Neowin.net]

Thanks for sending this in, Christian.