About the Zune HD Death, Scratch That

Microsoft really needs to make up its mind over whether it’s killing the Zune hardware or not. It would surely manage to clear some of the confusion that the Redmond company created by providing contradictory information to customers.

This week, Zune devices were killed off only to be brought back to life, to be discontinued again, only to be revived again.

Officially, Zune players, and the Zune HD, are in a state of limbo, with Microsoft artificially keeping alive a sort of zombie device, not yet dead, not really with a future ahead of it.

The most consistent confirmation of the discontinuation of Zune players came from a support page on Zune.net. Said webpage displayed the following message:

“We recently announced that, going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy, and that we will no longer be producing Zune players. So what does this mean for our current Zune users? Absolutely nothing,” Microsoft said.

“Your device will continue to work with Zune services just as it does today. And we will continue to honor the warranties of all devices for both current owners and those who buy our very last devices. Customer service has been, and will remain a top priority for us.”

Once users worldwide discovered this announcement, the Redmond company pulled down the page. Revisiting it today will have users reading the following:

“Sorry, we can't find the page you're looking for. It might have been removed, its address might have changed, it might be temporarily inaccessible, or you might have mistyped the address.”

The way I see it, actions speak louder than words, and this is valid for Microsoft’s handling of Zune players. Microsoft hasn’t produced a new Zune device in years, and did everything in its power to stress a shift in focus to Zune services surviving across devices such as Windows Phones.

And good luck trying to buy a Zune HD from the Microsoft Store. The Redmond company has run out of stock. Undoubtedly, due to immense demand. Wait… then again, maybe not.

So I’m going to go ahead and pronounce Zune players dead, and wait for the software giant to confirm it officially.

Here's Microsoft's latest official message on the fate of Zune HD: "We are still supporting the Zune HD hardware. No official info has been released stating hardware is being discontinued."