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Planning on buying a Zune 80 for the holidays?  Good luck.  It was supposed to be the hot product for the Christmas season, but after only one week at leading retailers inclucing Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Walmart it is sold out or in limited supply.

This leaves the door wide open for the iPod Classic, its biggest competitor.  Unless you want to spend $320 or so on Ebay for one.  It reminds me of the $5 Beanie Babies that in the late 90’s were all the rage.  Stores would sell out immediately, and people would have to buy them on ebay for much higher prices.

“People are really frustrated trying to get one of these,” says Albert Wang, 31, of Salt Lake City, who unsuccessfully tried to buy a Zune 80 in his local Best Buy.

Retailers are frustrated, too. “We’ve seen a constrained supply,” says Brian Lucas, spokesman for Best Buy. “It does seem to have an appeal as an iPod alternative.” Says Amazon spokeswoman Anya Waring: “It came out of the gate as a really popular item.”

Microsoft concentrated on the 4 GB and 8 GB flash based Zunes, which left the Zune 80 in short supply.  Apple is not worried, as they feel that the Zune will take market share from other companies, but won’t touch Apple.

Still, there are people who have been holding out for an iPod alternative who are willing to wait a bit longer, says Chris Leckness, who runs Gotzune.com, a Zune enthusiast site. “Many people are not buying into the idea you have to buy an iPod to be cool,” he says.

Read more at yahoo!

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