How will Microsoft’s Zune HD impact Apple’s iPod Touch?

Microsoft has finally launched Zune HD and a week ago Apple had launched the new iPod Touch along with a upgraded iPod Nano. I was wondering how these two products will compete with each other.

Round One

Zune HD is priced at $219 for a 16GB version and the 32GB one is priced at $289. iPod Touch 32GB is priced at $299. That makes Zune HD cheaper that iPod Touch. Round One to Zune 😉

Round Two

Zune HD has a whole lot of new features and can easily compare with Apple’s iPod Touch but Zune HD has no App store which is a very big draw for iPod users. Round Two firmly goes to iPod.

Round Three

Zune HD probably scores over iPod Touch when it comes to hardware and design but then as Microsoft is doing away with their lower end Zune products, Zune HD stands completely alone in the battle against iPod products which also include a much lower priced but improved version of iPod Nano with a camera. So this round too goes to Apple’s iPod for better choice amongst products.

I think the Microsoft’s Zune HD is a great improvement from its predecessors  and will stand up well as a product in the future. Microsoft is probably right by not trying to keep their older products in the assembly line which had hardly a following. It’s quite conceivable that many people might not even know a product like Zune exists to rival iPods.
But times change and situations change. Zune HD seems to be made with a eye to be competitive with Apple iPod not in the near future but in some two years when higher end versions of Zune might be better received and may compete better with iPods. At the moment Zune HD might be trailing against iPods but has managed to not be completely knocked-out.

Link: PC World