Microsoft Axing Zune Player

The music has died for Microsoft's Zune music and video player, a well-placed source tells Bloomberg. The company is going to stop producing new models of the player because of tepid demand and will instead focus on providing Zune software for smartphones, according to the source. When Zune was launched in 2006, Microsoft said it could beat the iPod. But the Zune failed to grab market share from Apple: the iPod took 77% of the digital music player market last year while Zune didn't make it into the top 5. Microsoft hasn't officially confirmed Zune's demise. (More Zune stories.)