drkohler said:
That is not how it works in large companies. XBox is just one segment of Microsoft. It does not matter that MS, as a whole, made 7bn. If a segment is not profitable within a company, the bean counters start getting loud (I have seen that live in two large companies I was a consultant). And once the bean counters get loud, the dough no longer rolls unopposed (just remember how studios got closed down left and right, exclusivity deals pretty much stopped, once Nadello called the shots. Saved a lot of money). Now we can all speculate whether the XBox segment has been profitable or not over a length of time. (By my observations and industry experience, all things considered, it lost a lot of money - and I mean a shitton of money). I wonder how you got to the conclusion that the XBox segment is profitable. What do you think MS lost on the Kinect2 alone? Did the Xbox segment ever pay the full price for using Azure, like every other customer? What about consistently selling its hardware $50-$100 below the price of its competitor - does that sound profitability?) So many questions, so few answers (none, actually). I hope I see the day when someone writes a book with all the numbers revealed (I know, never going to happen). |
Actually I'm pretty sure they are far from losing a shitton of money like you assume, should not mix experiences and wishes :)
The Xbox brand is strong and not only the revenue from Live and the software is going up (and only up, and that's the biggest source of revenue...) but based on the support Microsoft is putting on their Xbox segment, I would say that it is more likely profitable than not...
