Microsoft Doesn't Quite Sell One Million Zunes

I've been paying attention to the calendar with two music-related deadlines in mind: Apple's DRM-free tracks on iTunes sometime in May, and Microsoft's aim to sell a million Zunes by June. With two days to go for both deadlines and nary a peep from either company, it's anyone's guess as to what's actually happening behind the scenes.

I was kind of surprised late last night when I noticed some buzz that Microsoft had managed to hit its goal, but a little concerned that there was no mention of this feat from Microsoft themselves. Wouldn't TV news be airing clips of Steve Ballmer and J Allard shouting and dancing exuberantly on Redmond rooftops?

In a posting on Apple 2.0, Philip Elmer-DeWitt gives us an explanation: reports that Microsoft sold a million Zunes comes from a quote that Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division prez Robbie Bach made in a San Francisco Chronicle interview yesterday. However, Elmer-DeWitt also listened to the podcast of the interview, and noticed a discrepancy. Bach was actually prognosticating, saying that they will have sold a million Zunes by the time they finish their fiscal year in June.

So I guess we'll have to wait a little longer to see if those million Zunes sell, and what happens after that.