In what could be seen as a promotional move, Microsoft Corp. has quietly slashed prices of its popular Zune HD portable media players (PMPs) though it’s still not clear that whether the price-cut is temporary or permanent in nature.

The company has dropped the prices of its 16GB model to $190 on Amazon, while the 32GB model will now sport a price tag worth $249, a significant drop of around $30 and $40 on the models respectively.

However, it has been reported that other online stores, including Best Buy and Microsoft’s own store, have also slashed the prices of both the models by $20, but they are still selling them at the prices higher than Amazon.

It is believed that the stores would further drop prices to match the Amazon’s offering. Previously, the 16GB version Zune HD player was priced at $219, whereas the 32GB Zune HD model had a price tag of $289.