News

Microsoft Partners May Drop PlaysForSure

Tuesday, July 25th, 2006 at 1:30 PM - by

Microsoft's announcement that it is developing its own portable music player and download service came as a shock to many of the companies that already make products based on Microsoft technologies. Now, according to PC Magazine, some of those companies are considering dropping Microsoft's PlaysForSure platform.

PlaysForSure is a marketing certification that companies can license from Microsoft to show that their products are compatible with the company's digital rights management technology and file formats. The money these companies pay to Microsoft, now seen as a competitor instead of a partner, amounts to salt in the wound.

MP3 player makers like Creative, SanDisk, and iriver are being left to fend for themselves as Microsoft prepares to take on Apple's iPod+iTunes juggernaut.

From Microsoft's perspective, going out on its own probably has the best chance for success since it can built its own tightly integrated player platform, software, and online service - much like Apple has already done.

For the iPod competitors that are already on the market, however, that makes Microsoft's PlaysForSure less of a sure thing.

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Tiger said:

member since 17 Jun 2003 with 909 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Jul 25, 2006 2:38 pm

Repeating:

Picture this. Day one. Zune arrives. It's MS only. Closed beyond closed.

Day two. Apple licenses FairPlay to SanDisk, iRiver, and Sony.

Game over.

MS is out millions if not billions in potential lost sales.

Chance of it happening is 50-50 for now.

Chance we'll giggle ourselves silly: 100%

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Biff said:

member since 08 Apr 2004 with 1479 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Jul 25, 2006 3:36 pm

Wait you think there is a 50% chance that Apple will license fairplay to other portable music player manufacturers? Seriously? So just as M$ attempts to copy Apple's successful model, Apple is going to give it up and turn to Microsoft's previously failed model? Do you really think if Zune fails, it's going to be that big of a deal to M$? You think Apple would gamble their business on something that would barely bruise M$?

Luckily for all of us and their shareholder's, Apple is not that stupid.

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Brutno said:

member since 28 Aug 2002 with 194 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Jul 25, 2006 4:55 pm

Biff, I was thinking along the same lines as Tiger. IF, and that's a BIG IF, Apple was to license FairPlay, the time would be right at Zune's unveiling. Here's how I see it playing/paying out. Apple to SanDisk, Sony, et all, "License FairPlay and give up 'Plays for Sure' . You are either with us or against us - there is no in-between. Your players must be labeled iPods, and you pay a license fee to do this. Dual branding is OK, as long as the Apple logo is featured prominently. Apple has final design and pricing approval. Apple will provide/lease you the player softwear".

Properly done, iTunes becomes a huge profit center, Apple reaps profits from other's manufacturing, and Apple owns the content providers - no more song pricing headaches. Microsoft gets trounced, and loses partner relationships as well.

Wishfull thinking? Pretty much...

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Tiger said:

member since 17 Jun 2003 with 909 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:11 pm

Biff,

See tongue firmly implanted in cheek.

Apple has already trounced Microsoft and the rest. It just did it quietly through sales and marketing, not backdoor deals, coercion and the like. I still wish I had my stock that I sold a few years ago at $16 per share. I'd be rich!

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Jul 25, 2006 6:51 pm

This whole Zune thing is shaping up as a big mess for MS. Informed consumers will be wary of buying an unproven player/music service widget from a compnay known for poor interface design. Uninformed consumers will simply continue to buy the same palyer most other people own - an iPod.

There is also the loss of face Microsoft has earned by snubbing its Playsforsure partners. How rude is that?

I actually expect the Zune may have a few things going for it. But if buying music from Microsoft means trusting them with account details of mine (such as my credit card number), forgeddaboudit. Trust MS? No, thanks.

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Jul 25, 2006 10:15 pm

Apple makes it money on selling iPods. Apple does not want people to buy other such devices. Accordingly, Apple will not license Fairplay. For what it is worth, I think Apple may lose a few sales to Microsoft, but it is the other players that will take the biggest lose.

You see Microsoft, unlike the other players, will get press coverage. People may actually check out the other players.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:18 am

Microsoft would do well to drop ""PlaysForSure". Its the sort of slogan that indicates the problem and casts a huge Orwellian doublespeak shadow over itself.

The trick for M$ will be to have this "zune" achieve thingness. It must be recognisable without needing to refer to the iPod. Thus anything labeled as an "iPod-killer" will fail because it is not a thing of its own. It'll take an exceptionally skilled (not just big) marketing strategy to make this succeed.

-That's my 2 bits

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