| sales2099 said: "360 lucky to sqeeze by Wii for 2nd" You do realize that profit and marketshare mean far more to companies then total sales mean to us right? If total sales mattered then MS could have easily dropped their 2008 prices to remain on top. 360 gained tremendously compared to its predecessor and is in full profit mode. If X1 makes a profit and only sells 40 million lifetime, that alone is reason enough to make another Xbox successor. |
I would add that the fact that Microsoft hasn't made an official price drop is indiciative of the power the have in the industry right now. Last generation, Sony had all the power and they controlled the marketshare by lowering their price continually. Where as, this generation, at least in the US and UK, Microsoft despite dominance in the marketplace for the past few years, hasn't lowered their price.
Consequently, this hasn't hurt Sony but rather helped them. If there is any sign that Microsoft wants competition in the console space, it's the fact that they haven't attempted to "kill-off" Sony like Sony tried to do to Microsoft last gen.
I think Microsoft is extremely happy where this generation is ending up. Regardless of whether they're #1, #2, or #3. The marketshare, as you point out is much more important and the fact that it is fairly even makes it a good generation for all players. So, I don't think Microsoft will see this as a bad generation, I think it'll look at where it was in 2001, 2005, and today and say we've made a sucessful business of this.
Looking forward, I believe Microsoft is looking at Europe and thinking they have a lot of potential for success there. I would even go so far as to say I think once this generation gets started, you'll see Microsoft focusing almost exclusively on the European market for expansion. It's a huge market that Microsoft can't and won't pass up.
I think Japan will be the last market Microsoft even considers worrying about. If and when China opens up, I believe Microsoft will heavily invest in content, services, and games there. The market in China is so substantially greater than the market in Japan that putting any effort into Japan over China would be a fools game and an opportunity for Sony or Nintendo to step in. And then there is India. India will be the next emerging market. The problem with India is the fact that the infrastucture isn't nearly as good as in China, the population is far poorer than in China, and India is still a hotbed for violence.
I don't see Microsoft dropping out of the console market. They've reorganized the company around hardware, altering their software only focus. They didn't do this because they haven't been successful. Instead, because of their success with the Xbox they're refocusing the company.
