Apple after the bell 10/3/06: zune vs iPod

It's in Apples best interest to respond with something other than going from 60 to 80 GB.

Hey Zune wizard, APPL will have more than storage as a surprise to ole' Zune! I think a nice surprise is coming your way which will stomp out the competition. First of all, what else is there to offer besides the zune player, absolutely NOTHING! Good Luck, another Xbox success!

Apple was down 0.78 cents? Since when is stock sold in hundredths of a cent? Or should that be 78 cents (aka 0.78 dollars)? Sloppy.

Jyri

The Zune is a long term project. Don't expect result in the short term.

Apple has never been able to stomp anyone or anything without some serious help. Take a look at the team that made iPod for them and you will find a heavy Microsoft influence. They both need each other to exist in order to maintain in their respective markets. Without Apple MS becomes a monopoly and without MS Apple becomes without focus or direction and completely lost. The only vision Steve Jobs has is getting back at Bill Gates and he lost that battle long ago.

The Zune will hit the market at an opportune moment and take market share. Microsoft will shove it's fat foot in the door and then it's over. It will be another Xbox success and MS is OK with that. You may consider Xbox a failure but they consider it an investment. They are building something far more than a simple MP3 player or anotehr video game console and the investment is well worth it. There is no other company with the cash or technology to pull their vision of a connected experience off.

MS waited until Sony had the market primed and stepped in to a battle everyone swore they could not win. By the 3rd generation XBox they will have done just what they said could not be done and will replace Sony as the gaming leader. They will do the same by the 3rd gen Zune and Apple will be relegated to the also ran category. It may take them a total of 10 years to do so but the Live Initiative will turn a profit and expand their market far beyond the PC. The Zune will do the same for them in the media business and at a cost most will feel to be too much. But ask yourself this. What else should they do with all that cash? Wait until the PC becomes obsolete and dies? No they spend it and buy themselves a new market.

If Apple were so damned smart they would have opened up the OS 20 plus years ago. If they are so much smarter today why did they pull the same stupid move that cost them the computer industry? Their arrogant insistance on doing it all themselves will choke them again this time. The army of Windows developers are dying to extend Zune in ways iPod can only dream of. In the end it will not be the Zune that kills iPod but Apple by taking it all upon themselves to control everything including the price of songs. Zune will become a platform and iPod is a passing fad.

Mac fanboys beware. The cool ride is over. You will once again be the geeks you were born as Apple has lost its shine.