No officially word yet from Microsoft but basing on the quote taken from the Zune Player Support Service Page, the Zune portable media player can be considered dead. The Zune has really ended its run. This time, it’s not just a rumor.
“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. 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.”
They have removed the hard disk based players and retained Zune HD. They’re just probably slowly selling remaining stocks of these and will not be making any more new ones especially new models. If you’re really into the Zune HD line, better buy one before it goes out of stock, forever.
It a sad outcome to a product line that gave us Windows Phone and Windows 8. The Zune was where Metro was fully appreciated first. We hope Microsoft would reverse their decision and produce an updated Windows 7 player. Not a phone, but just a storage multimedia player for music and video lovers. Maybe they could also license Zune Metro (like Windows Phone) to Sony, Sandisk, etc. :)
[via] WM Power User