Squilliam on 25 July 2009
| Zucas said: Although a lot of "holes" it still poses a really good question: What is MS's reason for staying? They aren't making money... they aren't helping out other products within their company. Really it is unnecessary bulk from a business point of view. But I'm not so sure I believe that. MS has always had a stake in the video game business. Started with the computers of course. It is quite possible that they moved to the console business simply because the computer video game business is starting to die out. Sure that won't affect operating systems sales but still going to take a chunk of revenue out for licensing video games for things and such. Thus move to the consoles, make a name, and eventually you'll have a stake. I really do think that is MS's goal here. To keep their stake in the video game business. I mean they are one of the largest digital entertainment corporations out there... why not have a stake in something like this. Will MS release another console after 360? Of course. When? Who knows. With Natal and all this other stuff it could be awhile. As long as the competition doesn't put them in a pickle where they are too far behind they can ride the 360 for awhile. But MS is in for the long run. They have invested way too much in the industry to quit now. A growing fanbase, developer popularity, and a well oiled machine that is Xlive. Only thing they have to worry about... the brand. The Xbox brand has been damaged thanks to their recklessness with the 360 failure rates as mentioned in the article. Whether people here want to admit it or not, you don't want to be known as the brand that fails and unfortunately that is what they have. Who knows how much better sales on 360 could be if their failure rates were closer to that of the PS3's. Basically, MS may have to change brands next time. Call it something other than the Xbox. Kinda like Nintendo has done with Wii and DS But I think it is silly to think that someone who has so much invested in the industry will simply just give that all away. Sega had reasons for leaving. So did Atari. MS's would be shocking though. |
The Xbox 360 unit had revenues of $5.609B that I worked out from their financial report. They sold 11.6M consoles which is an overall increase and the cost of revenue fell 7% and the overall cost of revenue of which the Xbox 360 was a majority was $4.331B. Is that reason enough for staying in the console business to you?
Tease.
