I don't think it really matters who wins and loses, another company having three times the sales doesn't really impact me as a consumer if I still get the games I want.

What matters is if it's profitable and thus financially feasible to keep pushing out hardware.

Nope. Its known for decades that exclusives win "console wars". From the moment they announced day 1 release on PC and Gamepass they made Xbox obsolete. I owned all Xbox consoles except Series because i never saw any use for that console.
So yep Xbox series never had a chance to win this war, i expected console to sell much less then One but i guess thanks to Series S, this gen of xbox will be close to previous.

This is why the GameCube was not really a failure. Nintendo made a profit. Xbox did not. Xbox outsold Gamecube.

Curl, the title does not match the poll. It might be wise to change either the poll options or the title of the thread so that they match. I was very close to saying, “No, this generation was unwindable” in response to “Was this generation unwinnable for XBSX?”
To answer OP: Given how rough the PS5’s first two years were, Xbox did have the perfect opportunity to return as a major threat to PlayStation. Ways in which Microsoft could’ve regained market leadership could’ve included (i) affordability (just as Nintendo has thrived off of affordability, Microsoft could gave taken the route of cheaper hardware AND a willingness to eat heavy losses per system sold to output a system which would’ve sold like hot-cakes at $300), (ii) system-sellers (Xbox never had a BotW- nor GoW-tier exclusive hit its platform), (iii) better use of IP (Microsoft rarely uses from their deep catalogue of highly esteemed franchises to promote Xbox systems, at least not in an effective manner. Where’s the Minecraft-Fallout-Candy Crush-Crash Bandicoot crossover game, for instance? What happened to Banjo, Spyro, Crash, and Conker? Etc.), and so forth. I don’t believe in saying something is “unwinnable” because there is always a way to make a positive change.

they really needed to go all in on exclusives. that was the real key to xbox gaining momentum and taking marketshare. its a shame they decided not to do that. zero reason to own an xsx

No sir, because microsoft has done very well with it's profit, and yet they are being pushed right out of the competition and now we are making a thread about its failure.  So, market share must matter as well.  In other words, the past matters only so that you can use it to gauge the future.  That's the whole premise behind pricing stocks and whatnot.    

Also, if needing to "keep pushing out hardware" is of the essence, then they really aren't doing enough of that, are they?   

If they couldn't win the 360 generation, there was no way they would ever win this one. Xbox was a valiant platform the first two times out of the gate. After that, eh. I think its parent company's root really began to show.

Exclusives.

No, it was not winnable. Xbox issues go back to the start of the Xbox One generation (if not further), which was the worst generation to lose as people started to build up their digital libraries and switching consoles would mean losing their games. Although, if you look at the most played games they are nearly identical between the PS5 and Xbox Series with live service games like Roblox, Fortnite, Call of Duty, and Minecraft. Microsoft owns Call of Duty and Minecraft, however, they would lose too much money if they made those Xbox exclusive.

Going back in time what Microsoft should have done is launch the Xbox One in 2012 without Kinect for $399 and Halo 4 as a cross-gen launch title. That would have given them a year head start on the PS4 like they did with the Xbox 360. Would that have been enough for the 8th generation to have been as close as the 7th generation? Probably not. But it would have made it closer. Now acquiring Bethesda a decade earlier could have meant Fallout 3 and 4, Skyrim, Doom reboots, Wolfenstein reboots, etc as Xbox console exclusives. Morrowind was an Xbox console exclusive and Oblivion launched first on Xbox 360 (Yes, because PS3 wasn't out yet).

Actually Xbox mistakes go back to the original Xbox. They passed on GTA3 back in the day as they didn't think Rockstar could make the jump to 3D and pull it off. Imagine if GTA3 / Vice City / San Andreas were timed exclusive on the OG Xbox.

I also think Starfield not being a perfect game after all of the hype, is what ended Xbox. Microsoft needed that game to be a huge system seller, and it was a good game just not an amazing game that they desperately needed at the time.