Microsoft shopping for exclusive content to bolster Zune

Microsoft shopping for exclusive content to bolster Zune
From:http://www.electronics-in-china.com/buy-player/
Key words: player, video, company
Microsoft's Zune is a competent media player that has some unique features, but it has only managed to carve out a small chunk of the portable media player market so far. With Apple selling more iPods in a month than the total number of Zunes that ship within a year, Microsoft has been left in a position that it has never been comfortable with: distant second. In an effort to raise the device's profile, it appears that Microsoft is trying to persuade the movie industry to generate some Zune-only content.
Reuters is reporting that Microsoft execs have been making the rounds at Los Angeles-based studios, trying to find companies willing to produce video content that would be marketed as Zune exclusives. The videos would either remain Zune-only or could be distributed more widely under a Zune brand.
And, in a further blow, Tattooed Zune Boy is losing the tats and has bought an iPod. This is actually (slightly) more serious than it sounds, as the decision was made in response to a widely-shared sense that Microsoft has not given its users any reason to think that the Zune and its attendant services will be seeing any significant improvements in the future.
None of this is to say that the Zune is doomed. Microsoft has created a decent media player that has done pretty well in the marketplace. But Redmond hasn't found the right combination of hardware and software that will turn the Zune into something more than a viable alternative, and the content industry isn't likely to bail them out in that regard. The lack of a clear indication that Microsoft has clear plans to change the situation, combined with the fact that the company doesn't always maintain focus on markets they're not dominating, raises some reasonable concerns regarding whether the Zune is a safe long-term bet.
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