Something tells me the Zune will be a popular Christmas gift this holiday season. The player is currently Amazon's top-selling music player, beating out the new iPod Nano and the 80GB iPod on the "Bestsellers in Electronics" list. Could it be that we've been underestimating the Zune for far too long, or are people snapping up the first-generation Zune players due to their heavily discounted prices?

I can't blame anyone passing on the $135 4GB iPod Nano when presented with the option to buy the brown 30GB Zune for $134. I mean, you would be crazy to pass up that deal. To prove that color does matter when it comes to electronics, the sleek black 30GB Zune is currently selling for $140, while the red and pink 30GB Zunes are even more expensive at $150. What's even more perplexing is that the white Zune player is the most expensive of all first-generation players, selling for a whopping $160. But wait, there's even a new 80GB Zune player at No. 17, so it can't be all about the deep discounts, right?

A report by the Associated Press says there's a shortage of new Zune media players on the web and in retail stores. Apparently, the new 80GB Zune player has sold out everywhere, but more should be on virtual and physical shelves in the next 10 to 14 days. This buzz obviously makes Microsoft very happy, but its discounts on first-generation Zunes are making consumers extremely happy, or at least happy enough to ditch their iPod for a Wi-Fi loving Zune.

Regarding the "Bestsellers in Electronics" list, I should mention that iPods are still dominating most of the list, but it's nice to see the iPod up against some real competition. I really thought the iPod Touch was going to be a hot music player this holiday season, but so far both the 16GB and 8GB models are coming in at Nos. 6 and 7.

Update: Please keep in mind the "Best of Electronics" list on Amazon is updated hourly, so the Zune's and iPod's position and pricing on the list will change every hour.

Quick poll: Does storage capacity really matter, or is it all about the brand name?

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