THE “iPod killer” is how Microsoft insiders describe the Zune, but only days after its multimillion-dollar US launch, and with Christmas fast approaching, the long-awaited music player faces an onslaught of powerful new foes from the Far East.

Hundreds of sleek and cheap MP3 players made by dozens of manufacturers in Taiwan and China are flooding Western markets. Many are just as slender, powerful and good looking as the iPod Nano, some as powerful as the Zune and all of them cost only a fraction of the price. The imports have been around for at least the past year but have not caught on in the West as they are largely unavailable in high street shops.

Industry experts say that this is changing, with the iPod-dominated market shifting away from expensive brands as MP3 players become an everyday commodity.

Sales of the devices, which cost between $20 and $100 (about £10 to £50), are soaring on eBay and Amazon and at big US stores such as Wal-Mart and Target, with British retail outlets expected to follow. A group of “open-source” software developers — programmers who write useful software and distribute it free on the internet — is creating a universal operating system to make the cheap devices more reliable and just as versatile as their expensive competitors.

After several years in development, the Zune is Microsoft’s attempt to topple the iPod. “Zune does not really have to worry so much about the iPod,” said Scott Kessler, head of IT research at Standard & Poor’s, the credit rating agency. “The competition for Microsoft in this field comes from everyone else. You buy an iPod or you buy one of the others.”

Zune received a lukewarm reception at its US launch this week, and its $249.99 price is expected to put off many shoppers. The 30-gigabyte device can store up to 7,500 songs, 25,000 pictures or 100 hours of video and has a wireless feature that allows users to “beam” songs to one another.

It is hard to find any enthusiastic support for the Zune among New York’s electronics retailers. PC Richard’s, one of the city’s biggest electronics shops, had none in stock and was unsure as to what it was. “Is it like an iPod?” a salesman replied when asked about it.

Macy’s 34th Street store advised buying a cheaper, unbranded MP3 player “if you just want something to play music and watch videos on”.

Microsoft has not given an official launch date for the Zune elsewhere around the world, but company insiders expect it to be available on British high streets before the end of next year. By then, the open-source software for Chinese MP3s will be readily available and the market will be flooded with even more cheap devices.

Violence broke out at the US launch of Sony’s PlayStation 3 as fans and profiteers mobbed stores to buy the limited stocks of the games console. Police had shut down a Super Wal-Mart in southern California after a crowd of about 100 people turned rowdy at the store’s special midnight opening. There were also reports of a stampede in Wisconsin.

In Putnam, Connecticut, police said that two armed men tried to rob a queue of 15 to 20 people waiting for the PS3, shooting one of them.

There was also fierce bidding for the consoles on eBay, with one buyer in Britain paying $15,100 for a machine.

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