Zune European Launch May Be Delayed Until 2008
Europeans once again get the shaft
When it comes to Microsoft's Zune music player, Europe is getting the shaft. The player, which is due to launch in the United States on November 14 with a price tag of $249 won't show up in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe until late 2007 at the earliest.
One reason for the delay is that Microsoft doesn't yet have a European product czar for the Zune to coordinate a launch. And the recently appointed figurehead for Zune International is just now working to build up relationships in region. Even more telling is that fact that Microsoft's doesn't yet have an infrastructure in place in Europe to provide music online. "We haven't yet selected a music store provider to build marketplace in the UK, which means we're way off launch",said Dene Schonknecht, media and entertainment alliance manager for Microsoft.
It seems as though Europe has been getting the short end of the stick a lot recently. Sony announced in September that it was pushing back the European launch of the PlayStation 3 until March 2007 and just recently Lik-Sang announced that it was closing its doors which closed a channel for importing electronics to Europe.
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