Legend11 on 29 July 2009
| justinian said: It is amazing how many still believe in MS's win at any cost mentality. Throwing away revenue for the sake of a secure second place will please the fanboys but I am not so sure about that pleasing the shareholders. The future hold no guarantees and profit (or less losses in this case) is more important than planning for a future in a console market that can turn on it's head. Apple makes 20% of all profits made in the mobile phone industry with a tiny 1% share of all mobile phones by selling an overprice product (overpriced in my opinion). They sell not as many expensive Macs as, say Dell, but the profit margins are huge. MS has the cheapest console and some want them to make it cheaper. Why? There may be complications comparing desktops and mobile phones to consoles but ultimately they are all made of chips and plastic and in many ways do the same thing. I believe MS should not drop the price and let natal (or the anticipation of natal) sell the consoles. I am willing to bet this will be the case as long as the current versions of the 360 are being sold. |
It's the same mindset as those thinking Sony will cut the PS3's price despite the fact that the company is currently having a hard time of it. Or those thinking Nintendo will cut price even though their system is still selling amazingly well for a video game console.
As for winning at any cost, the fact that Microsoft has already lost billions and is still in the game and showing no signs of stopping should indicate how far they're willing to go. Also in my opinion it's not just about winning this console generation, it's about establishing a major presence in the livingroom in order to hedge their bets over where convergence is taking us.
