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Microsoft's new Zune media player in short supply
2007-11-18 19:11:09 Xinhua English

BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- The 80-gigabyte Zune media player Microsoft Corp. launched last Tuesday has sold out and is not available on Amazon, Best Buy or Circuit City's websites, media reported Monday.

"Anyone know where I can get a Cabbage Patch Doll ... er ... I mean Zune?" asks an Amazon.com Inc. customer listed as Paul Taylor on the Web retailer's message board for the product.

Amazon told Taylor and others that their preordered devices for Nov. 13 shipping would not be sent for 10 more days.

Microsoft said it prioritized the manufacture of the smaller Zune 4 and Zune 8 devices, and that more of the 80 GB version should be on shelves, physical and virtual, in the next 10 to 14 days.

"I think they were already probably a little later than they would like to be, given Apple's iPod announcement" of a new line of the market-leading devices in September, said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at the independent research group Directions on Microsoft. "They probably wanted to get anything out the door as soon as they could."

Quite a few Zunes have "definitely shipped and sold," and Amazon is being given a limited number each week, said Anya Waring, an Amazon spokeswoman.

Microsoft, for its part, is happy to see such a positive reaction, according to a spokesman.

(Agencies)

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