Phil Harrison: Xbox One Will Never Come Without Kinect

[binary solo]

RolStoppable said:

binary solo said:

Until April's NPD with PS4 being so far ahead of Xb one I didn't think there was much good reason for them to drop Kinect. With or without Kinect Xb one was not going to fare well outside USA and UK, but without Kinect Xb one would have been able to launch in a lot more countries day 1. It's voice recognition language localisation that held back a wider launch and ultimately that's what's killed Xb one prospects globally, ceding over 40 countries to PS4 with a 9 month sales lead is death for Xb one in most of those markets. Individually, and week by week they don't amount to much, but over time those sales accumulate. Last gen those countries belonged to PS3, even ahead of Wii, with PS3 selling the second most consoles across RoW of all time, only behind PS2. So giving PS4 a head start in those markets was a fatal necessity because of Kinect.

Can voice recognition really be the reason when Switzerland was left out?

Also, the European Union means something, so plenty of the left out countries have Xbox Ones in stores. There may not be an official marketing push, but the system is visible rather than non-existent.

Who knows why some countries were left out. But it makes no sense to leave soo many markets out for so damned long. it's not like they have serious stock shortages, so they should have been able to expand into at least another 15 or 20 territories in April, if it wasn't for the voice recognition thing...or perhaps they were waiting to see what would happen Kinectlessness-wise. No point in manufacturing a bunch of Kinects that aren't going to sell, so don't launch in these extra countries until the Kinectless sku is out.