Microsoft’s Zune HD is selling out like hot cakes after it was launched last Tuesday. At leading retailers such as Amazon and Fry, some models of the Zune HD have already been sold out and are out-of-stock now.
The exact cause of the shortage is unknown. Earlier in December 2007, a widespread shortage affected the Zune when the company was unable to supply hard drive-based Zune 80s to meet the demand. Some industry experts believe that Microsoft was directly responsible for the shortage as it had knowingly shipped a small number of Zune 80s expecting its most expensive model not to sell well. However, that may not be the cause of the shortage today as Zune HD is now Microsoft’s only media player.
Whether or not Microsoft’s Zune HD will be a success cannot be predicted with accuracy. While the Zune HD is inexpensive, it still faces stiff competition from the 8 GB iPod touch. Additionally, no 64 GB version of the Zune HD is available. Zune HD also lacks a competitive app platform. Apps for the Zune HD are currently few in number. On the other hand, iPod’s app base is very huge and so it will be sometime before Zune HD will be able to give iPod a stiff competition.