Zune to miss ’07 launch window

MCV sister-site PC Retail reports that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has written off any chances of his company’s iPod-rivalling MP3 player hitting European retail this year – despite its arrival in the US in September 2006.

Speaking to German mag Wirtschafts Woche, Ballmer admitted that the Zune business, much like the firm’s Xbox 360 activities, is still losing money, and added that to launch in other markets under such conditions would be “dangerous”.

He refused to speculate about a possible European launch date.

Zune recently hit the one million sales mark a month ahead of schedule.