jlmurph2 said:
Egann said:
The article is almost certainly a significant underestimate. It only goes based on MSRP and cost of goods sold for Microsoft, but in reality Microsoft is not a retail vendor, and no vendor would sell someone else's loss-leader product at a loss themselves. Shipping and inventory aren't cheap expenses.
If the loss is $60 million based on hardware, the real loss is probably close to $100 million. As there was an article a few months ago saying the X1 had lost $400 million before and during launch, which means the X1 is now an even half-billion dollars in the red.
Not as bad as the Surface's $900 million dollars in the red, but it's bad. |
Yup, disregard all the games, Xbox Live memberships, controllers, headsets, adapters, plug n play kits and even Xbox 360s that have been sold since Xbox One's launch. Lets just put Xbox half a billion in the red.
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There's a big difference between the X1 project and the whole XBox division. There are five times more Xbox Live subscriptions than X1s have been purchased, so at minimum 80% of XBox Live is on the 360s back. Not surprising or disappointing, but it is worth remembering.
That said, between having a higher power console, a lower overall production cost, and not needing the company to make significant loss-leading marketing, the PS4 will be profitable years before the X1.
