Microsoft says it will stick with its Xbox business come hell or high water. But with years of heavy losses behind it the time has arrived to turn a profit. Has it all been worth the effort and how can the company turn its hard won market share gains into actual profits?
Earlier this week, an interview with Microsoft COO Kevin Turner affirmed that Microsoft is willing to stay the course with its videogame business, despite the fact that it hasn’t been profitable on an annual basis since the original Xbox launched in 2001.
For some, the reaction to the interview was surely, “’Duh.’ Of course Microsoft plans to stick with the Xbox business.” That reaction stems from the fact that it’s easy to see Microsoft’s successes as the lone next generation console on the market. The games library is good, upcoming titles are looking great, Xbox Live is a robust service with many appealing features and Microsoft is insistent that it will move 10 million hardware units by the end of the year.
But all of these successes and admirable plans have come at great expense—greater than Microsoft had expected initially. For fiscal year 2005, Microsoft’s home and entertainment division posted a $485 million net loss.
After its third fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2006, when Microsoft posted a $388 million operating loss for its home and entertainment division, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer issued an internal e-mail that stated, “…The cost of producing Xbox 360 consoles was higher than expected…”
Related Posts
- Xbox360 not available in China for piracy reason
- Microsoft to combine Xbox and UltimateTV
- Xbox360 to offer movie and TV downloads
- Microsoft to Launch Online Music Store in 2004
- Xbox 360 to launch in U.S. Nov. 22
Loading ...
Well if the XBox 360 is “higher than expected” to produce…imagine what Sony will go through trying to get the PS3 off the ground when it finally launches!
Obviously no console or company could go through that much loss unless they could have other products and services dump more money into the gaming console. I think its a big war and to get gamers on one machine is going to be the final outcome. One will die with loss of billions while the other will squeeze by so they can have all the market and then turn big record profits.
I agree the xbox loss is part of a bigger game. Besides they can afford it.