| Nuvendil said: I think this is quite possible. There have always been a lot of people in MS who disliked the Xbox product line because the brand, as a whole over its lifetime, has never been profitable, despite instances of profit at different points. One major force behind the persistence of Xbox I think was the vision originally put forward by Bill Gates of the smart, fully connected home with a hub acting as the nerve center. I think Xbox was meant to head in that direction, becoming a hub rather than just a gaming device. But with those elements of Xbox One failing to impress and more and more multimedia features being absorbed into smart TVs, I think MS is about ready to give up on the hub notion. With those two points in mind, there may be a sentiment in the upper echelon that staying in the hardware business serves no practical purpose. A lot of people wave off the losses Xbone is causing with the reasoning that MS is wealthy and can absorb the losses so it's not a big deal. The truth is the opposite: MS is wealthy and stable today because throughout their history they have considered sustained losses in departments a very big deal. I think we just may be at a tipping point for the bosses at MS where Xbox is concerned. |
Bad move. It'd make Sony a monopoly in the gaming market (Nintendo has pretty much lost it as least for now). The real reason Microsoft came into the market was to crush Sony. It came close last gen, but now its just a running buddy. And at this point there's no point in selling off or spinning off the Xbox division. Sure they'd make a bit more $$$ here and there, but that only really matters to investors, and to consumers its kinda a backstab. Anyway so no I don't think Microsoft will leave the market for a LONG time!
