14 DAY TRIAL // The trash is the perfect place to hold iPods, in Microsoft's own perspective. Well, in all fairness, Microsoft is not delivering just your average trash can for iPods, that would create a conflicting state of... design, now wouldn't it? You simply cannot throw away a bubble-gum iPod in a mundane garbage receptacle. That is not done! What is the alternative you ask?
Well, just take a look at the adjacent image taken from the Microsoft campus. The Redmond Company has the perfect solution in terms of both design and functionality when it comes to discarding iPods. And of course that is the iPod Amnesty Bin. According to the author of this picture, the iPod Recycle Bin has been set up, where else, than in the Zune headquarters over at Microsoft.
As of 2006, Microsoft has launched its own digital media player device placing a firm foothold on the market. As of November 14, 2006, Microsoft's Zune hit the shelves, but the device failed to make a big splash or to confirm its position of an iPod killer. "We wanted to bring Zune to life with a celebration of live music, shared between artists and fans across the country, and really make today all about embracing the social aspect of music," said Bryan Lee, corporate vice president of the Entertainment Busines at Microsoft in November 2006. "Zune is all about changing the game to make music more social, and at launch we are just scratching the surface of how wireless technology is going to enable social interaction in the future."
Microsoft has, from the get go, set a modest and achievable target for Zune. The Redmond Company intends to sell approximately 1 million devices by the summer of 2007. Even in the context of Zune, iPod users have not entered in a frenzy of disposing of their devices. Moreover, Apple has experienced a continuation of strong customer demand.
In the financial quarter ending on March 30, 2007 Apple has reported record revenues and earnings growth. And the iPod business brought in a consistent amount of Apple's $5.26 billion revenue and net quarterly profit of $770 million for the Q. The Cupertino-based company reported that no less than 10,549,000 iPods were sold during the quarter. At the same time, the grass is not greener on Microsoft's side, as Zune's market share is beginning to stagnate at just 9.2 percent in April, according to NPD data.