In an interview with Germany's "Wirtschafts Woche" Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer has said that the Zune will not launch in Europe in 2007.

He apparently blamed the decision on poor performance and profitability for Microsoft's iPod rival.

News from Microsoft recently revealed that the Zune would only just hit the million shipped mark at the end of this month, falling some 99 million units behind Apple's iconic MP3 player.

Microsoft are rumoured to have some new Zunes up their sleeve, possibly model with flash-based memory, that may launch in time for Christmas over in the States.

On the positive side, it could perhaps be seen as a good thing for consumers that if Microsoft do have new versions due that we European-types get the revamped Zune version 2.0 rather than the flawed original.

>> Via - Afterdawn