Microsoft is sticking to its projected figure of one million Zune players sold by the middle of 2007, despite analyst reports suggesting that sales are lagging. 

Research firm IDC said that the Zune accounted for only two per cent of media player sales during its second week, losing ground to Apple's iPod and SanDisk's Sansa. 

Microsoft's Zune took a nine per cent share of media player sales in its first week, according to IDC, which did not return a request to confirm the numbers.

A Microsoft spokesman told vnunet.com that Zune sales patterns have gone "according to plan", and that the company remains on track to sell one million of the portable media players by 30 June 2007. 

"In this first year of sales, we are confident that this level of performance will build credibility for Zune in the category of digital music players," said the spokesman.

The company also denied speculation that the Zune is posing no serious threat to the dominance of the iPod.

"This is reiterated by our retailer partners who report that Zune is doing more than nibbling at our competitors' share," said the spokesman.

Since its highly anticipated mid-November launch, the Zune has been the subject of sharp criticism.

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Andy Ihnatko said recently that the Zune was "so obviously immune to success that it evokes something akin to a sense of pity". 

Microsoft is shrugging off the early figures and criticism. "Our focus is less on week over week numbers, and more on the incremental sales that are leading to overall growth of the category," said the spokesman.