-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Microsoft Investor Wants To Fire Ballmer And Sell Xbox Division
- Thread starter Syphon Filter
- Start date
Well again I'd disagree with that. They have a strategy. The 'One Microsoft' devices and services strategy that Ballmer has just about finished putting in place (something that we likely won't see the results of for a year of two). Now whether it will work out or not is another story, and if these investors get their way (I don't think they will) we might never see it get off the ground in the first place, but it'll certainly be interesting to see where Microsoft as a whole as well as the Xbox brand will be in 5 - 10 years in either case.
That's good to see. It's the sort of PR that they should be doing.
diffusionx
Gold Member
The Asia-Pacific Market isn't spending money on videogame consoles, though. That's why I said it's the most amendable to the products they are selling. If they wanted to move to League of Legend clones, mobile games, and WoW farming, though, the US would drop in priority.
Times haven't changed... PS1 played music CDs and PS2 played DVD videos. Both Madden and Fifa were always popular in regards to their genres, As for Call of Duty, both GoldenEye and Halo were the top console FPS games of their generations and look where both are now, not even taking into account games like Doom and Quake. The FPS market has no loyalty to franchises and a new generation give companies an opportunity to make an FPS which actually takes away from Call of Duty's market. I wouldn't call them the typical console gamer any more than I would call the people who made the DS a success a typical handheld gamer as they will be the first to move onto other devices should they serve their purposes better than consoles. Past success does not mean future success.
Maybe it's a good strategy and maybe it's not, but the guy was ceo for over 13 years. On his watch they got lapped by google and apple and amazon. Meanwhile, the only reason he didn't pay $45B for Yahoo is because jerry yang is an idiot. He paid $6.5B for a display ad company and had to write the entire thing off. He's burned over $10B on online, with no profits in sight. It's possible he finally has it all figured out, but I sure wouldn't bet on it.
Msft had a market cap of $600B when Ballmer took over. Today it's under $300B.
malboroking
Banned
Haha whoops. Yes, thanks.
SmileBit199
Neo Member
Well they just spent another 1 billion to research the new controller so they are still in the hole.
Xplatformer
Member
I don't like suggesting anyone gets fired.
But the sooner I stop associating him with Microsoft the sooner I'll kinda stop disliking them.
Can't put my finger on it, but Balmer comes across as very corporate and not very consumer friendly. Always has.
But the sooner I stop associating him with Microsoft the sooner I'll kinda stop disliking them.
Can't put my finger on it, but Balmer comes across as very corporate and not very consumer friendly. Always has.
davepoobond
you can't put a price on sparks
Gates owns more like 40%. It might be lower now but that was as of last year I think.
Mass Effect
Member
Yes, if it had included 2012 it probably would have been lower, given the R&D for the Xbone.
I know, which actually doesn't help.
I'm pretty sure it was only $100 million... which is still a lot, but a bit from $1 billion.
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
Was just reading this http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/20...n-more-likelt-with-ballmer-exit-real-m-a.html
If the Xbox as a standalone business is only valued at 17 billion (Yes I know its an amazing amount of money still) Then maybe it does make sense to sell it.
For context, Microsoft made more money from Steve baller annoucing his retirement than the Xbox business has managed to generate/ grow in 12 years.
http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/23/ba...estors-cheer-its-impending-leadership-change/
If the Xbox as a standalone business is only valued at 17 billion (Yes I know its an amazing amount of money still) Then maybe it does make sense to sell it.
For context, Microsoft made more money from Steve baller annoucing his retirement than the Xbox business has managed to generate/ grow in 12 years.
http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/23/ba...estors-cheer-its-impending-leadership-change/
I can't believe buying a $400 system at launch, paying $50 every year, then later paying $60 MS still losing money. I don't even know why they got into the console market. PS2 dominated. Gamecube died off but was a sexy platform for a few games.
I am fine with just having SONY, VALVE, AND NINTENDO in the console market business. Although Nintendo might go next. Once the 3ds goes like Wii and everybody has one. It's just a mess. Wii U isn't really selling, and their already losing money after a price cut, I think more now.
I am fine with just having SONY, VALVE, AND NINTENDO in the console market business. Although Nintendo might go next. Once the 3ds goes like Wii and everybody has one. It's just a mess. Wii U isn't really selling, and their already losing money after a price cut, I think more now.
Microsoft entered the console business because of Sony. Because there was fear that Sony would take over the living room and that would spread to other devices, ie Sony would become Apple+Google+Samsung of today. You have to remember how strong Sony was in late 90s, early 2000's, this was before Apple, Google, Samsung and the rest started making waves.
It never happened for Sony, MS went to fight a war that ultimately did not mean much, meanwhile their actual competitors did start taking control of not just the living room but every facet of peoples lives, with smartphones, tablets etc. Markets where MS is desperate to succeed in and markets that directly threaten their core business.
Hence there is little strategic use for the Xbox brand now, because the battle is located somewhere else with giants like Apple and Google. So unless the division posts massive profits and the Xbox One is a massive success, i doubt they will keep it around and could easily see them getting rid of it.
Not because they "lost" some imaginary console war, but because Microsoft has their eye on a much bigger prize, and Xbox is nothing more than a torn in the buttocks.
Think of the Xbox as a giant tank meant to kill the Japanese Godzilla, meanwhile Godzilla never was the threat, it was the 2 King Kong's in their own that proved to be their real competitors.
It never happened for Sony, MS went to fight a war that ultimately did not mean much, meanwhile their actual competitors did start taking control of not just the living room but every facet of peoples lives, with smartphones, tablets etc. Markets where MS is desperate to succeed in and markets that directly threaten their core business.
Hence there is little strategic use for the Xbox brand now, because the battle is located somewhere else with giants like Apple and Google. So unless the division posts massive profits and the Xbox One is a massive success, i doubt they will keep it around and could easily see them getting rid of it.
Not because they "lost" some imaginary console war, but because Microsoft has their eye on a much bigger prize, and Xbox is nothing more than a torn in the buttocks.
Think of the Xbox as a giant tank meant to kill the Japanese Godzilla, meanwhile Godzilla never was the threat, it was the 2 King Kong's in their own that proved to be their real competitors.
Kageshinzo
Member
Lol, if there's anyone in the console gaming industry that won't go in the red, it's Nintendo. You're basing your idea on what, Wii U? One console?
Nintendo knows gaming is their only venture. They know they cannot afford to lose it. They will evolve if they must. Sony and Microsoft, on the other hand, have other business ventures, some of which are far more lucrative than their console boxes. They can wave them off if they need to. Nintendo does not have that luxury which is why they will fight tooth and nail to keep it. And if you know their history you'll know they can do it too. They've been in business for well over a century. They know how to evolve.
The alternative view would be 'if they don't do as well as 360 did' the investors may put even more pressure on. And that is potentially quite likely, at least in the short term.
I'm not sure what they really want though. Sticking to your core competences in windows and office, when the world is migrating to tablets and smartphones seems like wanting to stick your head in the sand and hope the bad people go away.
fatgamecat
Member
Once the investors seize control of MS, which will happen eventually, there will be even more pressure to stop the bleeding on windows phones, tablets, xbox, and other red ink consumer products, and stick to their bread and butter - office, windows, and server administration products.
After two generations Microsoft still hasn't build the infrastructure to push out a massive number of exclusive games but still needs to spend huge amounts of money on (timed) exlusives to be on a level with Sony for launch window.
They have built a brand recognition which is OK for a brand that went through the RROD desaster just to destroy the good name already prior to their 3rd gen launch.
They finally go for the classic living room that kinda ceased to exist and leave their rather hardcore gamer image behind just when people seem to be looking for a dedicated gaming device rather than some unified entertainment box. They totally ignored the fact that nobody really wants/needs Minority Report in their living rooms.
As Into said their mission to win the living room failed or was a quest without a real aim and at the same time they missed to build a brand and infrastructure that would make every new xbox generation the sure-fire success that doesn't need start-up financing like it was the first one.
They have built a brand recognition which is OK for a brand that went through the RROD desaster just to destroy the good name already prior to their 3rd gen launch.
They finally go for the classic living room that kinda ceased to exist and leave their rather hardcore gamer image behind just when people seem to be looking for a dedicated gaming device rather than some unified entertainment box. They totally ignored the fact that nobody really wants/needs Minority Report in their living rooms.
As Into said their mission to win the living room failed or was a quest without a real aim and at the same time they missed to build a brand and infrastructure that would make every new xbox generation the sure-fire success that doesn't need start-up financing like it was the first one.
Microsoft is still making a massive mistake keeping media apps behind a paywall. They want to take over the living room but the PS3 is the number one Netflix streaming device on the planet. They want the Xbox brand to have the mindshare of being the media device that people want, but ultimately a much larger percentage of PS4 owners will have media access than XBO owners just like there are FAR more media users on PS3 than 360 simply because only 33% of 360 owners have the access by paying for Gold.
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
My issue with all this, is this quest for the living room has always been flawed.
Its been proven time and time again, for the majority, THERE IS NO SUCH DEVICE THAT CAN SERVE EVERY NEED!
The so called "black box that all services converge on and is the centre of a familys entertainment" never has or will exist. The goalpost move too quickly and there are too many factors and parties with a interest for it ever to work. If it was so easy, Microsoft wouldnt have even needed gaming, just come out with a HTPC brand.
Best you can hope for is to become the primary service for a large amount of the mainstream. But that requires far more investment of time and money worldwide that even Microsoft is prepared to spend at ballmers craziest.
Im not saying the Xbox one is doomed to fail but I think this "One input" side of its marketing will be dropped pretty quickly. Its simply not going to work.
Its been proven time and time again, for the majority, THERE IS NO SUCH DEVICE THAT CAN SERVE EVERY NEED!
The so called "black box that all services converge on and is the centre of a familys entertainment" never has or will exist. The goalpost move too quickly and there are too many factors and parties with a interest for it ever to work. If it was so easy, Microsoft wouldnt have even needed gaming, just come out with a HTPC brand.
Best you can hope for is to become the primary service for a large amount of the mainstream. But that requires far more investment of time and money worldwide that even Microsoft is prepared to spend at ballmers craziest.
Im not saying the Xbox one is doomed to fail but I think this "One input" side of its marketing will be dropped pretty quickly. Its simply not going to work.
dakeedskee
Banned
Sega should buy. Scrap Xbone and make a new Dreamcast.
Playstation 1 was the first console to play music CDs
Playstation 2 was the first console to play DVD movies
Playstation 3 was the first console to play Bluray movies; updated to play 3D blurays; had HDMI out as standard from launch; is the first console with a TV tuner and DVR accessory released in both Europe and Japan; and is the most popular netflix device
Playstation 4 *will* be an entertainment device that is plenty for the 'typical console user'. That doesn't change the fact that - at launch - you talk about games because the 'typical console users' isn't buying immediately at $400-500. When those guys are in the market - say from the end of next year or even later, the messaging will adjust to include more of an entertainment mix.
Gemüsepizza
Member
Financial Times: Microsoft urged to spin consumer business
Article is behind a paywall, should work if you click the link from google search:
https://www.google.de/#q=Microsoft+urged+to+spin+consumer+business+
Seems like things are heating up when even Paul Allen wants to sell the Xbox division:
Article is behind a paywall, should work if you click the link from google search:
https://www.google.de/#q=Microsoft+urged+to+spin+consumer+business+
Seems like things are heating up when even Paul Allen wants to sell the Xbox division:
jordan0386
Member
lol, it works quite different than you think.
They didn't need luck to get rid of Balmer they've already succeeded. He announced his retirement within the next 12 months and they now have been offered a seat on the board.
shinra-bansho
Member
The part Allen, or his proxy rather, wants the company to focus on is what makes up the vast majority of Microsoft's earnings. You're basically asking what happens if Microsoft's enterprise software, server business and operating system business fail.
:/
----
At it's core, Microsoft is a business to business company. Even it's operating system and enterprise software, which on the face of it are consumer products, are largely sold via B2B afaik. Their foray into consumer devices really served as a distraction when they could have been focusing on more fruitful endeavours.
LQX
Member
Is that so impossible?
Yeah, if that happens, MS is fucked anyway. I think what we're all realizing is that outside of Nintendo, the games divisions make up a very small part of their respective companies in MS and Sony.
Difference is that MS is potentially talking about spinning off XBox while Sony is saying the games division is still important.
shinra-bansho
Member
DragonSworne
Banned
THE RETURN OF POWERPC AS A CONSUMER MEDIUM.
open_mouth_
insert_foot_
The only companies that would be able to afford and do anything with the Xbox division would be 1. Samsung, 2. Google, and 3. Apple. But I doubt any of those companies would want to take on someone else's project instead of doing it on their own.
Microsoft can't sell now because no one will buy it and because they already invested way too much to just abandon the project. They will see this generation through to at least 5-7 years and then sell or disband at that point (or continue).
Microsoft can't sell now because no one will buy it and because they already invested way too much to just abandon the project. They will see this generation through to at least 5-7 years and then sell or disband at that point (or continue).
Diddy Kong
Banned
Gemüsepizza;88255361 said:
The plot thickens...
MutonCommander
Banned
Can the Xbox division survive by itself?
DragonSworne
Banned
spookyfish
Member
Actually, the Saturn came out first in Japan and in the U.S., so no.
Wait, no. 3DO.
(Any CD-ROM add-on played CDs: Sega CD, TurboGrafx CD, TurboDuo ... )
The PlayStation was the first "work-station" type game system, focused on rendering 3D graphics and polygons on the fly. N64 followed the same type of architecture.
massivekettle
Member
Wat.
Not really, Games consoles are something where you need to put in a lot of money to get somewhere, however if it is bought by a major company like Samsung then it would be just fine.
EDIT: If Microsoft decide to get rid of the division and is unabe to sell it as a whole they would likely just try and make a profit of it for the rest of generation and then sell studios/IP's at the end of the generation, It's not all doom and gloom for xbox owners, just less exclusive content deals for the Gen.
shinra-bansho
Member
As noted by the person above, the Xbox division wouldn't be "sold off" to another company per se, it would likely be spun out as a separate entity and Microsoft could still retain a stake.