Microsoft Zune to receive price cut

In an effort to help boost sales this holiday shopping season, Microsoft announced price cuts on its entire line of Zune MP3 players.

The 4GB Zune will drop to $99 (from $129), the 8GB model will drop $10 to $139, and the 16GB will drop $20 to $179.

Microsoft said the price cut is not meant to take a swipe at Apple, rather to ensure Microsoft has a solid month of sales as the global economy continues to struggle.

The iPod Nano 4G 8GB costs $149 while the 16GB costs $199.

In addition to the players receiving price cuts, Microsoft also dropped prices on several Zune accessories.

The price cuts are scheduled to take effect next Wednesday for U.S. shoppers and Friday for consumers in Canada.

Even though Microsoft has not been able to topple the Apple iPod as the most dominant MP3 player, Microsoft continues to rack up sales numbers that impress Microsoft executives.

"Zune is not fading away and again, we are pleased with our progress against an entrenched competitor [Apple]," Microsoft told CDFreaks a few months ago. 

"Zune is a long term investment for Microsoft. Today there is much focus on the stand alone portable media player. But if you look across the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft you can see how, in the not too distant future, a customer’s entertainment experience could flow across the PC, Xbox, mobile phones and automotive."