For a market leader like Microsoft, it has to be brutal to be the second — a far second — in the market portable of music devices. According to NPB study quoted on The Seattle PI, the Zune has 8-10% of the market vs. iPods’ 80%. Does this mean Microsoft should give up on?
I don’t think so.
In every monopoly there’s an opportunity for a rebel alternative, even if it never get to be a leader, in can certainly chop away a respectable percentage. How? Forget about the iPod, let’s take a look at Microsoft’s biggest hit in the last few years: The Xbox.
Everything about Xbox speaks to gamers and power. This is not your cutsy-game console for the family. If you are serious about games you go for the Xbox. Meaning the Xbox design takes stand in the market and doesn’t try to be for everyone. This hard-core gamer appeal is embodied in every single design decision. From their logo (with a light glowing of power inside), to the vexed console and the interface the idea is to transmit a feeling of power. Shelley Amstrong, lead designer for the Xbox described the Xbox form as “an inhale that comes before a burst of power”.
Also, the xbox features are rich: you can connect with other gamers online, reinforcing the social aspect by forming a “club”. And Halo, its flagship game, is consistent with what xbox power image and it’s only available to play with Xbox. The xbox embodies its promise in they way it looks, in the way it operates and in the way its experienced.
And the experience is certainly unique. It has nothing to do with its competitors Wii or Playstation. When someone is buying an Xbox, they go for that unique promise that gets delivered in and out of the box.
So why does Zune have to look like a cheap version of the iPod? And if you are never going to be an iPod why try to be? Why not be everything the iPod is not. Go for the hard-core musicians, people that want to compose, share, detect music — what do they want? To be a real alternative to the iPod, Zune should be what the Xbox is to the Wii.
*** UPDATE ***
I heard back some reactions. Indeed Zune wants to cater to hard-core musicians. That is great, but can that thought be integrated into the product itself?
If you redesigned Zune for hard-core musicians couldn’t it come with some music playing instrument embedded? Auto-lyrics? notes? Kareoke? I’m talking about completely re-thinking this device to serve a niche need, which happens to be a cult.
What do core musicians do with music? They don’t just listen they create and share, they need to promote their creations too and discover. I think the Zune can aim to be MySpace for mobile music device (MySpace is loosing the popularity contest to Facebook, but it’s THE niche for music!).
This thinking actually dates back to one of my favorite slideshows from Paul Isakon where he argues that the future of marketing is the product itself. See the his slides here.
We love to hear your views.