The large job losses reported for Microsoft look likely to hit the non-popular music player hardest.
Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices department could have been hit harder than most in last week's round of job losses at Redmond, with the folks who work on the much-maligned music player, the Zune, getting a particularly severe kicking from the men with the money.
Microsoft hasn't officially announced the breakdown of which departments the 1,400 ousted employees will come from, but the recent news that the Zune has seen a $100 million drop in sales must be making for some nervous conversations around the water cooler.
So is it time that Microsoft finally admitted that it will never compete with Apple in this particular stomping ground and bury the whole Zune project?
Not if Microsoft spokesman Adam Sohn is to be believed. "Zune is committed and on track to deliver against our current product roadmap," he told paidcontent.org. "We are in this business for the long term and committed to it."
With Zune sales down 54 per cent despite massive promotional efforts and deep discounts, and another 3,600 job cuts looming on the horizon, we have to wonder how long Ballmer will allow his company to pour cash into such a lame duck.
Story source:
theinquirer.net.
