No Zune Phone But Zune Touch Soon

SFGate recently interviewed Robbie Bach. This is the guy in charge of the Xbox, Zune, and Windows Mobile- all of those ultra competitive consumer devices. In this interview the question of whether or not we would see a Zune phone was brought up.

At first Robbie touts the fact that Windows Mobile devices will continue to outsell the iPhone and the Blackberry. But then he goes on to state that, “We don't make phones ourselves. We don't have any plans to make phones ourselves.” He goes on to explain that Windows Mobile is currently in the position to take advantage of their belief that, “…a phone is a very personal thing. Different people want different types of phones.”

While this rules out the possibility of a Zune branded phone, it may not rule out the Zune as a piece of software or service on a windows mobile device. When discussing the MP3 player market Robbie goes on to state that Microsoft has a broader goal not just including hardware but also software and services. He states that, “…software and services, at least in theory, can be used on a lot of different types of devices.” This I think is a ways off, but it does show the future of the Zune brand.

So what did he have to say about the Zune “Touch”?