It is official now. Microsoft's Zune has been pulled off the market and analysts say that it is one of the biggest failure's in tech history.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)'s products have not been able to compete with Apple's iconic innovations like the iPhone for some time. The latest product in that category is Zune, which was retired on Nov. 15. The music player was not doing the job it was touted to do ahead of its release and the Seattle-based tech giant decided to go with Groove instead.
At the moment, Zune customers will not be able to stream or download music, but if they bought MP3 titles from Zune, they will still be there, Microsoft's support page said. However, music bought from DRM cannot be played if the license for Zune has ended.
Music pass subscriptions from Zune will automatically be converted to Groove pass subscriptions, Microsoft's new music platform. The tech-firm has been gradually shifting Zune's streaming and downloading capabilities to Xbox music and Groove music.
According to Network World, Zune, Microsoft's streaming media player's failure analysis reveals that it does not come compare with Spotify or iTunes. The Zune media players came in as a product that was too little too late, five years after the Apple iPod arrived in 2006.
Zune was also discontinued in 2011 and some have called the media player one of the biggest tech flops in history.