Microsoft Zune to retail for $249.99 in USA

Microsoft Zune to retail for $249.99 in USA

Software giants Microsoft have finally revealed the prices of their upcoming digital media player Microsoft Zune.

Zune has been priced to match the price of its prime competitor Apple iPod. Microsoft is expected to lose money on this product in the initial launch phase.

Zune comes in a 30-gigabyte version and it would retail for $249.99 in the US market. It is around the same price as the iPod 30 gig version. Microsoft is also looking towards selling music at the Zune Marketplace service for about 99 cents a song. This price point is also similar to Apple iTunes.

Market analysts said that the company is going to compete with the hugely popular iPod on the basis of features. Zune has a couple of capabilities, which are missing on the Apple iPod like support for Wi-Fi connectivity.

Scott Erickson, Microsoft’s senior director of product marketing for Zune spoke on their plans: “We had to look at what was in the market and offer a competitive price. We’re not going to be profitable this holiday but the Zune project is a multiyear strategy.”

Microsoft added that they would offer a music subscription pass for $14.99 a month. They aim to make available as many as 2 million songs at the launch time. One of the exciting aspects of Zune is that it would come preloaded with an array of songs, music video, images and short films providing a better value for money to the customer.