With the announcement of Microsoft cutting 5,000 jobs this year due to its weak quarterly report, many are wondering where the job cuts will land. 

The Zune division may probably be one of them. According to Microsoft's report, "Zune platform revenue decreased $100 million or 54% reflecting a decrease in device sales."

It's disappointing to see a worthy opponent of the iPod so ignored by the consumer market. 

The Zune actually offers quite a bit of features the iPod classic doesn't.  The most important being Wi-Fi connectivity, allowing users to stream Internet radio stations and if you still pay for your music, giving the ability to download media directly to the device. 

Of course, all these features are available on the iPod Touch, but that device doesn't have the massive 120GB drive the Zune has, (only the iPod Classic does.) 

In the end, Zune revenue decreased while Apple's iPod sales increased by 3% during the same period.