Microsoft's 80GB Zune in Short Supply

The 80GB Zune media player that Microsoft Corp. launched on Tuesday has sold out across the Web, to the dismay of online shoppers and the delight of the world's largest software maker.

Amazon told customers via its message board that their preordered devices for November 13 shipping would not be sent for 10 more days.

While web retailers have 4GB and 8GB versions of the second-generation Zunes in stock, the 80GB music player is not available on Amazon, Best Buy or Circuit City's websites.

Microsoft said it prioritized the manufacture of the smaller Zune 4 and Zune 8 devices, and that more of the 80GB version should be on shelves, both physical and virtual, in the next 10-14 days.

Rumors of a manufacturing delay spread across consumer electronics blogs this week.

"I think they were already probably a little later than they would like to be, given Apple's iPod announcement of a new line of the market-leading devices in September," said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at the independent research group Directions on Microsoft. "They probably wanted to get anything out the door as soon as they could."

Quite a few Zunes have "definitely shipped and sold", and Amazon is being given a limited number each week, said Anya Waring, an Amazon spokeswoman.