Microsoft has quietly confirmed that it will no longer make Zune players. The last one, the Zune HD, was released back in September 2009. The Zune players support page now reads:
We recently announced that, going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy, and that we will no longer be producing Zune players. So what does this mean for our current Zune users? Absolutely nothing. Your device will continue to work with Zune services just as it does today. And we will continue to honor the warranties of all devices for both current owners and those who buy our very last devices. Customer service has been, and will remain a top priority for us.
As the post indicates, the Zune hardware may be dead but the software and lessons learned live on (and in fact today arrived in Canada).
Hang on to those Zunes, they are now collectors’ items…