According to Engadget, Wal-Mart has leaked the pricetag for Microsoft’s Zune MP3 player which was spotted in the MP3 player category listing at $284.

Wal-Mart is said to like to skim as much as they can off the MSRP so $16 off the magic $300 Microsoft price would be expected by Wal-Mart.

I bring this up as Gartner Research recently claim’s that Apple’s pricing on the new iPods betrays an increased interest in profit margins at the expense of market share. This as Apple has lowered pricing on the new iPods.

The iPod with video with a 30GB hard drive is being sold by Apple for $249. The Apple iPod comes in black or white. Sorry no “brown.” Seems Microsoft will have the “exclusive” on brown and may have to work at that price a little more to compete. The Zune is unproven, has no market or coolness yet and is said to be bulky compared to the popular iPod. The iPod has added brighter screens, improved battery life, games, movies, and better searching. Maybe Apple’s pricing is “on the money.”

There is still no ship date for Zune and my calendar says September 18. Will Microsoft make Xmas with enough available units to matter? The wifi sharing Microsoft is pushing in the Zune will be of little use if there are not a lot of users. Also it is still not know what the wifi will do to the Zune’s battery life.

Microsoft may end up eating more of its partners, than Apple as it is now competing against them.

I wonder what Gartner thinks of this pre-pricing of Microsoft’s Zune? Seems Apple has plenty of time to refresh the iPod line again before Zune gets out in the market place with any traction. What’s your opinion?

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