i honestly think they should, they try to hard at claiming the region when they should really be going for sonys territory europe!

And name recognition means nothing, the ps2 is a great example it killed the xbox in us and look now! even though the xbox isn't killing the playstation 3 it's still doing quite a bit better then it! consumer's just want bang for there buck, and they most likely see that more with the playstation rather then xbox! the idea that a company/brand owns a region is quite absurd nobody does" playstation has the same chance of reclaiming amercia next gen like xbox has the same chance of getting europe, customers just want the best games and obviosly more companys support playsation over there so m$ needs to get them to go multi or exclusive.

Yeah I guess. But would that mean they abondon Japan for nextbox as well?

It seems abandoning nextbox in Japan would be difficult for MS to allow themselves to do. MS may think that hitting the "reset button" by releasing a new console may be what they need. The problem is the Xbox brand has a very steep uphill battle in Japan, because of unfamiliarity and how Japanese people seem to favor their home brands in many cases (with some few exceptions of course). MS still has a couple price cuts they can make with the X360. If those price cuts only have gains for very short times and go back down to abysmal numbers then the scenario of keeping nextbox out of japan is possible, but I personally still think its unlikely knowing MS's nature. They have likely learned a lot (one would hope) from what has gone wrong with X360 in Japan. X360 is a failure right now in that region. It may be that if efforts fail to increase X360 numbers they may pull back a lot of resources and advertising of their product to save the operational costs, and then wait for a new console release to increase funding of their marketing.

 For "Nextbox" my guess is that they will try reformed strategies to build popularity for the nextbox in Japan. They need to use what Japanese gamers like to attract them, and some major exclusives from Japanese game developing studios IMO. I do think however that if continued efforts by MS to boost X360 in Japan fail the possibility of them keeping nextbox out of Japan is possible, but unlikely IMO as I think MS will think of it as a "reset button" to try a new console with reformed strategies.

No Kinect will never be popular in Japan.

The damn xbox is not even popular in Japan, so why the hell would the add-on be??

Companies lose money sometimes, MS lost almost 4 BILLION on Xbox 1, coming into the market a new player and Bill Gates just spent it knowing maybe next gen they would break thru.  It didnt bother Bill alot and at the time MS had alot more money in the bank then Sony...(REAL Money) in the bank, not just assets and stocks which Sony has pleny of if it needs to liquidate .... MS actually have made a profit this generation despite having to fix alot of RROD Xbox's for free.. MS gave ANYONE who had a RROD Xbox 360 a three year warranty.. but my point is Sony had already lost nearly 4.7 BILLION Dollars (by 2009) THIS generation because of PS3, and lost more in 2009 to add to that total.. ..At launch in 2007 Sony was losing about 400.00 dollars on each console sold.. one year later they were losing about 200.00 on each console..Try multiplying a loss like times millions sold.. Fast forward to 2011 & PS3 has made a profit for maybe the last year ..in EARLY 2010 a CNET report said Sony was still losing 18 dollars per console.. even 18 dollars is alot when multiplied by millions sold.. but what little profit they make now in 2011 on each console now doesn't offset the tremendous amount they lost initially on each console..  If Sony comes close to breaking even this gen - which I doubt- it would only be after factoring in PS2, handheld, and games sales.. but according to many articles the gaming division on its own has been losing money and right now only exist because they beleive they can come back next generation.. 

So, to the original poster-  sales numbers dont always tell you if the product is actually making money..  Kinect doesnt cost much to produce and does make money even if it doesnt sell in Japan it doesnt really matter.. Japan is a concern for MS obviously, but lower on the totem pole compared to the rest of the world..  Im sure when people least expect it a XB 360 price cut will bring in alot of buyers as it has recently done for the PS3.. 

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/30/ps3-has-lost-sony-4-7-billion-may-be-profitable-next-year/