Zune 80 vs. iPod – Deal or Designer?

December 18th, 2007

4 comments

Posted in: Industry Pulse

Do you know what the price difference is when purchasing a designer bag vs. a replica? It can range anywhere from $20.00-$2,000. The difference between the bags is usually just the brand name, or is it better quality? To me it’s all the same material.

Which is why I personally prefer the look over the label, and I guess that would make me a “deal” buyer, not a “designer.” But there are people, I know because I do know many, that would purchase a designer handbag simply because it’s made by Coach.

Does the same hold true for gadgets? Let’s take for instance the the famous debate over the Zune 80 and the Apple iPod. Function-wise, the Zune 80 (80GB) has a screen that’s almost double the size of the iPod 80 LCD, it is highly scratch resistant, has brighter image settings, is commonly said to have a very sleek design and is priced at $249.

Now how can I place the Zune 80 into the “deals” category even though the iPod also costs $249?

It’s because people tend to take another approach when purchasing gadgets. Instead of the cost being the reason for a buyers decision, it’s about product/brand awareness. Unlike designer handbags, quality, (or features in this case) just aren’t enough.

When the average person thinks of an MP3 player the first thing that comes to mind is iPod. Why do I say this? I decided to put this to the test and ask a friend of mine, who is not exactly up to date with the latest in gadgets, what they thought of using an MP3 player, the first thing she said was, “are you talking about one of those iPods?” She automatically categorized “MP3 player” as an iPod and I know that if she ever went and purchased one she wouldn’t even know what a Zune was.

But why would someone who’s aware of the different MP3 players go for the iPod over the Zune that has more features? Jason Chen from Gizmodo.com says “You really like the music/picture sharing: Zune. It’s a feature not found on the iPod, but will have limited use unless your friends all buy Zunes.”

It’s the same thing as being a member of a social network that none of your friends are on, pointless.

So according to iSuppli, the Zune 80 is all of a sudden hard to find. “The question is whether the Zune 80 shortage is the result of high demand, short supply or some combination of both,” says Chris Crotty, the senior analyst for consumer electronics at iSuppli Corp.

Sure both are very likely, it happens. Or is it a way to shed some light on the struggling MP3 player? Bringing some unexpected attention to the Zune 80 would be a great way to bring about some brand awareness. You be the judge.

4 Responses to “ Zune 80 vs. iPod – Deal or Designer? ”

1. 
   Scott Says:
   December 18th, 2007 at 9:37 pm

   I know that gadgets for me are different then clothes, or bags, in that buying an iPod isn’t purely about the iPod, but about what I can do with it. BMW, Honda, Toyota and other car manufactures have iPod interfaces to their cars, but not Zune interfaces. If I want to buy a case to protect my MP3 player, I have a bigger choice with the iPod.

   The iPod’s popularity has certainly led to all the accessories, but in part, for me, the accessories help drive the choice now.

   Guitars to fall in this category. When I buy a Fender (popular guitar), I know I can buy a lot of aftermarket parts for it, versus a less popular brand of guitar.

   Maybe I don’t know enough about clothes, or care about them, but I never buy a pair of jeans thinking about the cool belt that will only work with them.

2. 
   Zune 80 vs. iPod - Deal or Designer? | Got Zune? Says:
   December 19th, 2007 at 2:28 pm

   [...] Read the rest of her article at The Chitika Blog ShareThis Filed under: Zune Commentary [...]

3. 
   Kevio Says:
   December 26th, 2007 at 12:19 pm

   First, I wouldn’t compare two completely different devices to a designer handbag and a knockoff. The analogy is not even remotely similar. The Zune has features the iPod doesn’t and vice versa. They are both dated technology and offer nothing revolutionary. I say forget them both and just get an iPod Touch. It’s the most revolutionary hand-held device to date. The amount of user-developed software coming out for this device is staggering. Yes you will give up storage space. But as users are learning, they don’t need every sing song with them at all times. I probably only listen to 10% of my library at any given time. So with a combination of smart playlists and some custom ones I have tons of music, movies, TV shows, music videos, photos and applications on my 16gb iPod Touch. Hard drives are on the way out. Flash storage and other solid state devices are the future. I’m actually sending a hard drive out for data recovery today. They are completely unreliable and far to delicate for something that is easy to drop. Don’t waste your money on outdated technology. Spend a little more for something that will at least be useful until next year. :)

4. 
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   March 1st, 2010 at 6:46 pm

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