GameStop, a global video game retailer based in Grapevine, TX, has just announced it will be discontinuing its stock of Microsoft’s Zune digital media player.
The company, which first began selling Zune in November 2006, will continue selling Zune until its current stock is depleted, the company said.
Chris Olivera, vice-president of corporate communications for GameStop, said in an e-mail that the reason for not selling Zune in the future, is because it was not “working with our product mix.”
Microsoft released Zune a year and a half ago as a competing product to Apple’s iPod. However, when compared to its Apple counterpart, Zune did not live up to the same unit sales. Since its launch date in November 2006, Zune has only sold more than two million units, while Apple has seen iPod sales total well over 10 million just in the first three months of 2008 alone.
Microsoft said retailers such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart will still continue selling Zune, in addition to selling the product online.
GameStop has listed more than 5,000 retail stores online on its Web site with stores in 15 countries, including Canada. In Canada, the store operates under the name EB Games.