Portable Planet

Zune may not be living up to its hyped iPod killer status as of yet, but Microsoft is still determined to launch the media player in Europe, perhaps by year’s end.

“The industry moves in this sort of Christmas to Christmas cycle. So you can expect that there will be more devices, more features in the market at that point,”Microsoft’s marketing director Jason Reindorptold Reuters.

“Our next round of introductions will probably be in time for the holiday of this year.”

Zune has a 10.2 percent market share in the U.S. in the 30 gigabyte category at the moment. But the company has realistic goals; they’re fully aware that they’re not going to be overtaking Apple’s iPod any time soon.

“We’re not simply trying to play catch up with Apple,” he explained. “We are very realistic, we have what is essentially a three-year plan to firmly and solidly get on the radar.”