This, coupled with Gates giving his approval if there were to be a spin-off/sale of Xbox, seems to be a nod to all those investors who are demanding that they drop console HW. I think they are going to give it another year or two, then if things haven't turned around, they are going to seriously take a look at what to do with the Xbox division.

Interesting, considering some Xbox fans were hoping for Sony to meet its financial end, somehow sealing 1st place for the One. Seems more like if things continue the way they are, MS will be the first one to drop out.

Where there's smoke, there's fire! It surely isn't a coincidence that every single time Microsoft's financials and strategies are debated, XBox is mentioned negatively. Statements from Gates, Nadella, Wall Street, news of cutbacks, firings...
If they were not dissatisfied with XBox brand, surely it wouldn't be brought up so much. It just seems that MS shareholders look at XBox One and just see a new Zune or Vista.
I believe, that even in an unlikely case that XOne turns around and becomes #1 this gen, we will not see XTwo ever. To become #1 they would have to bleed so much money and surrender any profit, and that will simply not be acceptable to a very successful and profitable company like Microsoft.

On the other hand, can we consider PS core to Sony? Maybe now yes, since it is one of the things that gives them money, but in the past not at all i think. Just asking...

But i agree with all of you. This guy saying this so openly, even when we already know it already, feels odd.

I highly doubt that they will give up the xbox brand - well, I hope not.

I am not going to give in to the doomsayers

I thought Windows was their core :O

I really don't think it would be hard to give up that brand. XBox brand has been around for 15 years, yet has failed to garner any serious brand name recognition.

Among the general population, gaming consoles' brand recognition is split between Nintendo and Playstation, with XBox coming a distant third, and only in North America. East of Greenwich, XBox brand is barely even mentioned, except within confines of a tight gaming community. Losing XBox name would not hurt Microsoft 5% in 95% of the world.

another day another xbox done thread.

I disagree, well at least this doesn't align with my experience. The Xbox brand is very strong in australia - in the home console sector, currently Nintendo is at a distant third (but it has picked up significantly since mario kart 8). However,  the Ps and Xbox are more desirable. 

I don't believe the Xbox one will flop - they need to sort out issues, but the situation is far from hopeles

Hardly surprising comment. Xbox is just a small sideshow for MS that has many detractors within the company. And Nadella himself seems to have been pretty luke warm about Xbox for much longer than he's been CEO.

Duh...the Xbox was never originally in their plans and the shareholders don't like Microsoft straying from the original plan. I thought people paid attention to this long ago. They don't like MS wasting company dollars on video games. Microsoft does have a goal to stop Sony from dominating the gaming industry though, so they will continue.