Microsoft: Winning Isn't About Winning
It's a simple question: is Microsoft poised to win the console wars? Microsoft Senior Regional Director of entertainment Neil Thompson had something not so simple to say in response:
I don't think it's as binary now as it was with the previous generation. It really depends on your criteria of 'winning'. Some people say it's how many boxes you ship, some say it's the amount of profit you make, some might judge it on how broad your offering is...I think when people look back on this in the future they will see this as a very successful stepping stone in Microsoft's broader entertainment vision.The obvious translation?
Winning for Microsoft is really just competing, as their focus is still just to keep another industry giant from becoming the home entertainment PC, the box that hooks to your TV without running Microsoft software (just like it was in the days of Xbox the First). In that sense, Microsoft has secured enough of the market—but more importantly, presence in the market—that they will at minimum cockblock other companies from looking like undisputed entertainment leaders. Well, that's assuming Sony never gets their act together. And they are revving up in a major way and own a lot of their own entertainment properties...
http://kotaku.com/gaming/console-wars/microsot-winning-isnt-about-winning-310224.php
