"You can sell Live to those without an Xbox" - You don't 'sell live' you sell Gold. You can't sell gold to people without an Xbox.

"You can sell GamePass without an Xbox" - You can sell Gamepass for PC, not the more expensive and profitable Gamepass Ultimate.

"You can continue to generate third party revenue without an Xbox" - With a closed system like the PlayStation/Xbox/Switch third parties are forced to release their titles through your platform. Without a console third parties are not forced to do anything. Uplay, Origin, Battle.net - publishers own services. Third parties aren't selling their games on the Microsoft Store, they're not even all selling their games through steam.

There is plenty of money to be made on PC and Mobile, more than to be made on console, but the competition is insane.

MS would be far more likely to dominate the console market then make even a dent in the PC market. Steam is never going anywhere and publishers will continue to push their own services.

PlayStation has 103m MAU's that all generate 1st party software, third party software and service revenue.

Xbox Live has 65m MAU's accross Xbox and PC, the PC only users not generating third party software revenue and only being sold the cheaper PC gamepass.

PS4 has sold 1.15 Billion games, good luck getting that many sales on PC if you're not called steam.

Consoles is the only way MS are going to make money from the likes of GTA, Assassins Creed, CoD, Battlefield... etc

The industry is moving away from hardware, sure we have next gen consoles however Digital media and Streaming is growing rapidly. Its only a matter of time when consumers start realizing you don't need to spend big dollars on a console to play big IP video games.

Xbox was originally named DirectX Box. It was meant to push DirectX into the console market.

History of Xbox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtejBKHVppU

This is a good watch and educational.

you still not answering  my question, if consoles is not important why Microsoft still producing consoles and making next gen console? you make a contradiction in your statement .

And how consoles able to push directX if you already able to play Xbox games/ directX games on PC? 

That's why MS is supporting Steam, Steam is massive and holds one of the biggest communities. They wouldn't be releasing games like Gears 5 on Steam if Console sales means more than Software sales.

Sony did great this gen, 103m MAU's is huge, however that number will always flatulate depending on the generation, its not always a guarantee to have that many, next gen they could have less and they could also have more however to break the 200m MAU isn't something I believe can be achieved by just having a console. Personally I believe Sony has hit its Cap of MAUs, I cannot see the potential of getting 200m without the help of other options. Now that is just my opinion.

MS didn't do as well this generation, they fell behind.. however 65m MAU's doesn't mean the potential isn't there, there is already enough proof that veering out into other markets that the MAU can grow immensely. If MS supply the games and doesn't trip over at launch with good marketing than lets judge there business decisions and see if it works. Steam already proves you can have more than 100m MAU's without dedicated hardware. 

1.15b games sold is a lot and Steam will only help push those figures even further. 

I did answer your question, did you choose to not read it.

Ill post my reply again.

*To have there toes also in the console market, To support there Direct X, To push subscribers, to gain profit from the console industry as well as other market spaces. Microsoft wont drop Xbox and be replaced by PlayStation because of one little thing, PSN. If PSN didn't exist than that might have been a possibility however PSN is a direct competitor to Live and without a home console to drive Live members, going PS, Sony will push PSN over Live and MS loses control. Having there own platform will support Live, GamePass and Xcloud in the console space.*

I don't disagree with your premise that MAU's is limited by just being on consoles compared to being elsewhere as well. What I completely disagree with is the idea that "Console sales and figures are really only for fanboys" or "it remains nothing more than for fanboys to flex there muscles."

That there is a larger userbase outside of consoles doesn't mean that console sales are suddenly not incredibly valuable. It also doesn't meant that a company suddenly doesn't care about selling consoles.

They will not  have toes on console market if they don't have console sales 

Directx is PC not console

Subscriber can be obtained outside consoles through PC and cloud 

So consoles sales  is useless for Microsoft isn't ? 

Or perhaps Microsoft are confuse with their own vision? Microsoft cannot focus on two side, they either choose subs model with PC/Cloud or go with consoles 

Basically what I am trying to say is console sales isn't the "be all, end all" for the gaming industry. The console market is only a portion of the market and its why MS are focusing more than just consoles. They are still making consoles because they want as much revenue as possibly and they still have quite a huge market share in there, however there focus has changed from worrying about being the console market leader and moving onto being the gaming market leader. If the next Xbox doesn't sell as much as the PS5 or Switch, it doesn't matter as its not there prime focus anymore. They want to grow in all markets and have more avenues. These decisions will hinder Xbox's performance and they know that, and they are happy to sacrifice console sales to do so.

Sony seems to rely heavily on the PS consoles so there direction is to sell as many as possible. I am sure MS want to sell as much as possible as any brand would but again gaming is bigger than Sony and Nintendo and MS know this. Apple make billions and they don't even have a console, so does Steam. MS want that share of the pie, not just Sony's and Nintendo's share.

Xbox uses Direct X.

MS want to compete in all markets. Consoles is only a portion of the market.

What's the point of selling direct X on console if only Xbox the one who use direct X on consoles

Also if they want to compete in all market isn't selling a lot of console still relevant???