Domicinator said:
noname2200 said:
Can they really? In the past two years alone, Microsoft's "war chest" has been halved, having lost over $30 billion. They face increasing competition on all fronts, and aside from their OS division none of their ancillaries are really striking pay dirt: search, gaming, Zune, etc. have all been losing rather than gaining money as a whole. Even Internet Explorer is being chipped away, albeit gradually. The simple truth of the matter is that the 90's are over: Microsoft is no longer made of money, and other companies are cheerfully assaulting it on all sides. This is not to say that Micrsoft am d00med or any such nonsense, but you can bet your rear end that they'll be more cautious about how they spend their money from now on.
And on a related note, I believe you're highly overestimating the degree to which Microsoft is devoted to the X-Box. Microsoft could conceivably throw enough resources behind it to guarantee a victory in the console wars. Likewise, the United States could throw enough resources into North Korea to overthrow that regime and unify the country under the South's leadership. But in both cases, the price certainly doesn't appear to be worth it to the folks who make the decisions.
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Yes, they really can. And it's good that they're facing competition. It will make their products better. And from what I've read, the Xbox 360 is considered by Microsoft to be one of their most important products, so I don't think I'm overestimating their dedication at all, especially now that they've proven that they are totally capable of stealing market share from Sony.
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It appears we'll have to agree to disagree on that point, then. And while the executives who run the X-Box and Gaming division may well be dedicated to the console, most of what I've read says that Microsoft shareholders don't share thier faith. Still, while I doubt I'm wrong here I concede the faint possibility.
And I agree with you on the competition being good part, but then I'm a die-hard capitalist and consumer advocate, so whatever benefits us makes me happy.
