Eideard

Microsoft’s Zune hit the ground even harder in its third holiday quarter. After two years of annual sales that barely reached the million unit mark, the company reported a major new drop in device sales for the winter quarter.

Microsoft’s latest 10-Q filing stated that “Zune platform revenue decreased $100 million or 54% reflecting a decrease in device sales.” The music player’s sharp decline in revenues helped erase 60% of the company’s earnings in its Entertainment and Devices Division, which includes the Xbox gaming platform.

Apple’s iPod business, once feared to be at a dead end with satiated demand, hit a new quarterly unit record with sales of 22.7 million units. That’s just 3% higher than the company’s sales in the year ago quarter, but demonstrates a demand for innovative products even in the midst of difficult economic times.

Apple’s record iPod sales don’t include the iPhone, which Apple has referred to as its “best iPod yet.” With iPhone sales, Apple sold over 27 million mobile devices last quarter, and over 208 million in total since it began selling the iPod.

The article delves briefly into whys and wherefores. My experience in sales with solid products that have an established base – is that inertia doesn’t require much more than talented touch-ups, tweaks and taste to keep rolling. And Apple seems to understand all three qualities.