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Confounding the rumors that Microsoft would cut the Xbox 360 price after Sony’s PS3 price cut earlier this week, Microsoft’s big E3 announcements yesterday were for a Halo 3 paint job and some miscellaneous games and movies. One can understand the desire not to appear to be in reaction mode, but these barely kept the fans awake.
Perhaps, despite all the evidence to the contrary, Microsoft’s management has some “double secret” plan, but what’s visible is that the belated billion dollar band-aid has tainted Microsoft’s reputation in the game console business (or worse); the success of the Nintendo Wii has blind-sided them; and reciting the mantra that the Xbox 360 will be profitable in fiscal 2008 with the help of some creative accounting doesn’t dispel the fact that it has been a very bad business venture for Microsoft. The question is whether, ignoring all the sunk costs, there is any expectation of it becoming a worthwhile investment in the future compared to Microsoft’s other opportunities.
July 18th, 2007 at 8:03 AM
[...] In a bit of industry musical chairs, that replacement is the former president of Electronic Arts Worldwide, Don Mattrick, who joined Microsoft as an advisor back in February. Mattrick will take over as the senior vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB), which includes the Xbox and Games for Windows businesses, on July 30. He certainly has his work cut out for him and while there’s little hope he can ever make the Xbox look like it was a good Microsoft investment, his immediate goal must be to at least start making a profit on it. Filed under Executives, Coopetition, Xbox, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Peter Moore, Don Mattrick [Permalink] [TrackBack] [...]