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GameStop Axes Zune; Microsoft Shrugs

Video game retailer will no longer sell Microsoft's feeble mp3 player

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted May 23, 2008 7:22 PM CDT

(Newser) – GameStop, a national chain of video game stores, has announced it will no longer carry Microsoft’s floundering Zune digital media player, TheStreet.com reports. "We have decided to exit the Zune category because it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated," a spokesman said of the iPod competitor, on shelves since late 2006. Microsoft seemed unfazed.

"We have a set of great partnerships that give Zune a strong presence at retail,” a Microsoft marketing man said, “including Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, and others.” Nonetheless, the company has sold just about 2 million units since its release; Apple sold more than 10 million iPods last quarter alone. GameStop’s shares were down after the announcement.

The Zune in all its glory.
The Zune in all its glory.   (AP Photo/Microsoft Corp.)
Bill Gates poses for a photo with a Zune portable media player.
Bill Gates poses for a photo with a Zune portable media player.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Some Microsoft Zune digital media players.
Some Microsoft Zune digital media players.   (AP Photo/Microsoft Corp.)
Two Zunes.
Two Zunes.   (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
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