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Forums - Gaming - Microsoft should consider selling Xbox and Bing businesses, says key analyst

S.T.A.G.E. on 29 May 2013
KungKras said:
A samsung box would be cool. However, selling it to Sega would make my year.


I don't evne think Sega can afford to buy anywhere near what the Xbox brand costs. Xbox Live alone is worth more than Sega can pay.



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happydolphin on 29 May 2013
S.T.A.G.E. said:
Euphoria14 said:
What would MS gain by selling the XBox brand?

According to the shareholders it would give them a refocused effort vs apple and react accordingly to their advances on MS marketshare.

Anything can do that, why the xbox brand?

Of course it won't make short-term profit the market is highly competitive right now because the winner gets the pie.



thranx on 29 May 2013
S.T.A.G.E. said:
DirtyP2002 said:
S.T.A.G.E. said:
forest-spirit said:
Sell Xbox? Brilliant idea. And Sony should sell PlayStation...


The Playstation brand is helping Sony, which is why Sony dedicates so much to it. The shareholders believe in the Playstation brand. As I've said before, MS shareholders can't stand the Xbox because they believe for years its plagued the interest of the direction of the company. MS makes a business of monopolizing OS and if they aren't doing that full time the investors are not happy. They are so glad Zune is gone though, but MS wasn't even listening to them on that.


This is bs. Shareholders and investors invest in a company for one single reason: PROFIT.
Why is it that you guys always think that Sony is not all about the money?

Do you even know the major shareholders of Sony?

  1. Japan Trustee Services Bank, Ltd. (trust account) – (7.0%)
  2. Moxley and Company (depositary bank for ADRs) – (6.7%)
  3. The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Ltd. (trust account) – (5.1%)
  4. SSBT OD05 Omnibus China Treaty 808150 – (2.4%)
  5. Japan Trustee Services Bank, Ltd. (trust account 9) – (2.1%)
  6. State Street Bank and Trust Company – (1.2%)
  7. Japan Trustee Services Bank, Ltd. (trust account 1) – (1.0%)
  8. State Street Bank and Trust Company 505225 – (1.0%)
  9. Japan Trustee Services Bank, Ltd. (trust account 6) – (0.9%)
  10. Mellon Bank (for Mellon Omnibus US Pension) – (0.9%)

SSBT OD05 Omnibus China Treaty 808150 is believed to be a Chinese government-affiliated investment fund.

As you can see: Banks and investment companies own Sony. Nobody of them gives a *beeeep* about the Playstation and its fanbase.


Yes, Playstation is so irrelevant to the business that where is Kaz Hirai now in Sony corp in stature after saving the PS3? Look up the history of the Playstation, because shareholders laughed at the concept of  videogame console. The first gen changed their minds about gaming when Playstation dominated the industry and helped push spread formats allowing the market prices of said formats to be affordable to the masses, thus selling more outside the Playstation brand. The Playstation brand has been a shining light in a gloomy time for Sony as a company and its high time whether you like them or not that you realize this. Shareholders of Sony has long since accepted the Playstations place in the company and Sony is a far stretching media and technology company. Playstation fits in just fine. Its MS that are having problems with their stockholders. MS doesn't listen to them and probably never will. 

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sony-bread-butter-not-electronics-005354650.html

Sony’s Bread and Butter? It’s Not Electronics

http://media.zenfs.com/284/2011/06/20/nyt-logo-106x27_043559.gif">

"

A new report from the investment banking firm Jefferies delivered a harsh assessment of Sony’s electronics business. “Electronics is its Achilles’ heel and, in our view, it is worth zero,” wrote Atul Goyal, consumer technology analyst for Jefferies, in the report, released this week.

“In our view, it needs to exit most electronics markets.”"

 

"

Its financial arm accounts for 63 percent of Sony’s total operating profit last year. Life insurance has been its biggest moneymaker over the last decade, earning the company 933 billion yen ($9.07 billion) in operating profit in the 10 years that ended in March.

Sony’s film and music divisions, which produced hits like the Spider-Man movies and “Zero Dark Thirty” and recorded musicians like the cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the electronic music duo Daft Punk, have contributed $7 billion to the company’s bottom line over the last decade.

In that time, Sony’s electronics division has lost a cumulative $8.5 billion.

Hardly Sony’s crown jewels, experts say.

“The problem is that the board is still absolutely focused on fixing electronics,” said Kouji Yamada, a visiting professor at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo and research director of Mission Value Partners, a Sonoma, Calif., investment company.

Sony’s chief executive, Kazuo Hirai, said last Wednesday that its board would consider Third Point’s proposal, even as it emphasized that the discussions were preliminary and that it had not set a time for a response.

But to a small band of analysts, Mr. Loeb’s prescriptions for Sony are shortsighted, merely milking the company’s profit-making content business for good money to throw after the bad.

As proof of the untenable future facing Sony’s electronics, critics point to its televisions and smartphones. Competition is intense, and in cellphones Sony remains a bit player. Even where it is more successful, in digital cameras or game consoles, it is struggling to stay abreast of stronger companies."

 

This ran on Monday this week in the New York Times



MoHasanie on 29 May 2013

MS has spent way too much money developing the Xbox brand and is spending a lot again on the Xbox One with TV deals and 300,000 servers so I doubt they'd want to just sell it off. Who would buy it anyways? Prospects for consoles aren't even good.



    

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dallas on 29 May 2013

You could make a case to sell bing



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sales2099 on 29 May 2013

XBox business is profiting for years......nothing to see here guys.



Xbox: Best hardware, Game Pass best value, best BC, more 1st party genres and multiplayer titles. 

 

TripleMMM on 29 May 2013

This move would cripple MS at best... Although, the whole DRM thing is worse at the moment. :/



 And proud member of the Mega Mario Movement!
NYCrysis on 29 May 2013
thranx said:

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sony-bread-butter-not-electronics-005354650.html

Sony’s Bread and Butter? I"

A new report from the investment banking firm Jefferies delivered a harsh assessment of Sony’s electronics business. “Electronics is its Achilles’ heel and, in our view, it is worth zero,” wrote Atul Goyal, consumer technology analyst for Jefferies, in the report, released this week.

t’s Not Electronics

http://media.zenfs.com/284/2011/06/20/nyt-logo-106x27_043559.gif">

“In our view, it needs to exit most electronics markets.”"

 

"

Its financial arm accounts for 63 percent of Sony’s total operating profit last year. Life insurance has been its biggest moneymaker over the last decade, earning the company 933 billion yen ($9.07 billion) in operating profit in the 10 years that ended in March.

Sony’s film and music divisions, which produced hits like the Spider-Man movies and “Zero Dark Thirty” and recorded musicians like the cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the electronic music duo Daft Punk, have contributed $7 billion to the company’s bottom line over the last decade.

In that time, Sony’s electronics division has lost a cumulative $8.5 billion.

Hardly Sony’s crown jewels, experts say.

“The problem is that the board is still absolutely focused on fixing electronics,” said Kouji Yamada, a visiting professor at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo and research director of Mission Value Partners, a Sonoma, Calif., investment company.

Sony’s chief executive, Kazuo Hirai, said last Wednesday that its board would consider Third Point’s proposal, even as it emphasized that the discussions were preliminary and that it had not set a time for a response.

But to a small band of analysts, Mr. Loeb’s prescriptions for Sony are shortsighted, merely milking the company’s profit-making content business for good money to throw after the bad.

As proof of the untenable future facing Sony’s electronics, critics point to its televisions and smartphones. Competition is intense, and in cellphones Sony remains a bit player. Even where it is more successful, in digital cameras or game consoles, it is struggling to stay abreast of stronger companies."

 

This ran on Monday this week in the New York Times


Sony is not struggling in the camera sector as it is now a top dog because of its nex series and it provides sensors to apple, samsung, and other phone companies. The Playstation division realized that they can't loose $200 per console sold (Main reason for its losses this gen) thus the ps4 will be MUCH cheaper and profitable to Sony. The xperia z has sales of over 5 million which is really good as a starting to push sony to third in mobile and if the leaked specs of the Sony Honami are true then they are becoming real strong in the mobile sector. Sony needs to give up on home tv and audio, walkman and protable audio, and Vaio as they are the driving forces for sony's profit drops. 



NYCrysis on 29 May 2013
pezus said:
happydolphin said:

I think rather Sony should sell their Playstation brand.

Not enough short-term profit, you know?

@OP. I wonder, do you agree with these articles or do you just post them for the giggles?

Me? I don't know which articles you're referring to other than this one. In this case, I do not agree. Well, maybe they could consider dropping Bing because honestly it isn't doing much for them. 

This idea is just as ridiculous as the idea that Sony would ever sell Playstation, the most popular gaming brand ever established worldwide. 

Isn't that nintendo? Comeon as much as I love playstation you can't deny Nintendo established the most popular gaming brand ever.



happydolphin on 29 May 2013
pezus said:

Me? I don't know which articles you're referring to other than this one. In this case, I do not agree. Well, maybe they could consider dropping Bing because honestly it isn't doing much for them. 

This idea is just as ridiculous as the idea that Sony would ever sell Playstation, the most popular gaming brand ever established worldwide. 

And that was exactly my point.... It's a ridiculous thought unless MS were in deep trouble. There's more reason for Sony to sell the PS brand as ridiculous as that is as there is for MS to sell the xbox brand.

And I'm not sure the Playstation is the most popular gaming brand, if most recent sales are any indicator that would definitely be Nintendo from both a HW and SW sales perspective. (By SW I mean as a publisher)

Yes, I was talking about you and I was talking about this article.