It's a failure in the same way the PS3 was a failure, or the Wii U was a failure.
It completely and utterly failed to do what Microsoft expected it to do based on the reveal. They're losing marketshare, they lost pretty much all brand solidarity in mainland Europe and they failed to implement the ideas they had from the start. They killed off Kinect, they lost the firm grasp they had on America and Britain, they lost the grasp they had on the shooter market. Halo and Gears are shadows of what they were on the 360 and 1st party content has stagnated outside of Forza.
While the machine may go on to sell a respectable number when all is said and done, when you consider the position they were in prior to announcing Xbox One, the brand itself has shrunk drastically.
