Half of iPod owners likely to flee to Zune

With the Zune not even on the market yet, the iPod generation are already considering ditching their Apple MP3 players for a Microsoft equivalent, research has found.

A new report from ABI Research has discovered that of those iPod users thinking of buying a new MP3 player, 58 per cent are "somewhat likely" or "extremely likely" to spend their money on a Zune, scheduled to hit shops in the US in November.

Roughly the same percentage of non-iPod owners said they were likely to opt for a Zune when they bought a new MP3 player.

So why the fluid nature of iPod buying? According to ABI Research analyst Steve Wilson, iPod users don't tend to have the same levels of devotion to their hardware as Mac users have for their Apple gear.

Wilson said Apple will need to come out with some hot products next year to prevent their competitors from catching up.

However, the shifting loyalties in MP3-player purchasing won't necessarily translate into inflated sales for the Zune. To start shifting units, Microsoft will need to impress upon users how different the device is to its competitors.

But its much publicised music-sharing capabilities are not compelling enough, the analyst said.

Apple's head honcho would certainly agree. Steve Jobs told Newsweek, "It takes forever. By the time you've gone through all that, the girl's got up and left."

Apple's iPod has around 70 per cent share of the MP3-player market. The device recently celebrated its fifth birthday and has shifted over 70 million units since its release.

The creation of the Zune is unlikely to have any immediate impact on the MP3-player market in the UK -- Microsoft told CNET.co.uk's sister site, silicon.com, that there are "no plans" to launch the Zune in Blighty.