Coming on the heels of Apple's quarterly results, during which the computer and consumer electronics firm announced that it had sold 10.5 million iPod digital media players, the following information is going to seen as somewhat lackluster by comparison: Microsoft announced late Wednesday that its Zune digital media player is "holding steady" and continues to be the number two selling hard drive-based portable media player.
According to NPD data cited by Microsoft, the Zune controlled 9.1 percent of the hard drive-based portable media player market in March, second only to Apple's iPod, which presumably controlled most of the other 90 percent. To bolster sales, Microsoft is adding a "baby pink" Zune model alongside the previous black, white, and brown models. The pink Zune will become widely available in May, Microsoft says.
Microsoft also touted other Zune-related advances. The company will soon launch a new "more pragmatic" advertising campaign that focuses on Zune features like its integrated FM tuner, large screen, and wireless networking functionality. And the Zune Marketplace has added over 500,000 tracks since going online in November 2006, the company says.