Nadella is in favor or against Microsoft's shareholders who want the end of Xbox Division?

Can't see this happening. The Xbox division is pretty big and holds the majority market share in its main target demographic. Then again, I'm no expert, but it all seems very unlikely, especially with a new product JUST being released.

 

Investors call for Microsoft to abandon Xbox | Metro News

The xbox division is still several billion dollars in the red. After the failures of zune & surface, I can see investors wishing M$ would concentrate on what made them succesful in the first place.

 

lloyd you should know better than other rumours are aload of crap.

like you point out when ps4 stuff gets posted

 

The fact that they're still investing tonnes of cash into the Xbox brand gives me faith

 

[quote user="MessiahBrowny"]

lloyd you should know better than other rumours are aload of crap.
[/quote]

Its all over the net, many reputable sources. It's certainly true, but whether M$ listen to the investor pressure is another matter.

 

Let the loyalists dismiss this reality as a "rumour" all they like, but top Microsoft advisors recommended that XBOX/Bing be "sold to someone like Samsung" before the big May 21st debacle even happened last year, and that was while projections looked a helluva
lot better than they do now. The company as a whole has been on the downturn for quite some time now, research & development nightmares soaked in red ink such as the XBOX ONE can no longer be ignored or, more importantly, sustained.

Shareholders are looking considerably farther into the future than most and are well aware that if something doesn't get done about it soon, it could be too late. Saying that "they're still investing tonnes of cash into the Xbox brand" as some sort of evidence
that these claims are "rumours" is very short-sighted, to be frank. The "brand" needs to look as attractive to any prospective buyer as possible, an abandoned brand won't entice any of those on the rather short list of takers to pay the, goodness knows how
many dollars, asking price. Painting a picture of this brand being on the upswing to prospective buyers could possibly be one of the biggest challenges that Microsoft has yet to encounter, their gaming division has clearly peaked and is eroding fast. Desserting
'Games For Windows LIVE' this July (some STILL call this a "rumour") to free up some room won't even be noticed in the profit margins, the division is in dire need of a "housecleaning", and those who actually have a say (sorry folks but that doesn't mean you)
ARE taking steps to see that their invested capital is in sound fiscal shape for the long haul.

The 360, the most successful gaming console ever, was only just starting to turn a profit in recent years and it's nowhere near enough, the R&D required to sustain the gaming division in a fiercely competitive market is something that the shareholders are
no longer willing to tolerate. GFWL was decisively outperformed by vALVE's 'Steam Network', it wasn't even close. Sony's new console has also beat the ONE out of the gate in worldwide sales, and while the ONE's tallies are still "respectable" by comparison,
the time to push for a sale are now because the brand is fading fast.

Selling off to Nintendo (don't laugh for they could very well be a "front runner") or Samsung for a handsome return would infuse the company as a whole for some much needed capital if it's too survive and compete for decades to come, and that's the mindset
that those with the political/financial hammer to force this issue in the boardrooms have had for quite some time now, we the consumer have only just begun to hear the rumblings publicly for a year now, but the pressure to go through with this decision has
been mounting long before that....

 

The 360 is not the "most successful console ever.

 

Did someone say Nutella?

Oh...nevermind.

 

Microsoft as a whole isn't struggling though. But they could axe off the xbox division or let it spin off into a separate company so the parent company looks better. Hell Sony itself is hurting while it's entertainment/gaming section is thriving atm.

IF this generation of the Xbox turns out to be a total flop which some analysts say it's looking that way it could be the last Microsoft made console. I don't think that means we will lose support for our Xbox One at least not at first. You will just see
less exclusives in the years to come and only receive multiplatform titles. Then, like the Zune, the hardware will simply be discontinued and no longer usable. But again I wouldn't assume that to happen over night but more over the next few years.

 

The Xbox brand is big, and always will be, regardless whether or not MS decide to sell it. If this division is not part of the future vision for MS then it would be better for the customer if it was sold off.

 

While on the outside it may look that "Microsoft as a whole isn't struggling", the shareholders are very concerned about the future outlook. The Windows division, one of the "bread & butter" sections, which has helped make Kinect Research & Development
even possible in the past has seen profits steadily decline in recent years, last year's 9.5 Billion return may sound sizeable to us ordinary folk but to investors it's a sharp drop from 2011's 12.3 Billion. A sale of the XBOX brand makes a lot of sense for
it's looked about as good as it's ever gonna look on paper right now, nobody with enough clout and money is going to gamble on a dead franchise. Microsoft has to make some hard changes if they're to reverse some disturbing trends for they simply can't continue
them, even Microsoft can't absorb and sustain the current situation for much longer, and they're nowhere near the powerhouse that they once were...

 

I'm sorry, but I find all of this incredibly hard to believe. Billions of dollars in the red? All I've ever heard about EVERY year is how Microsoft is making a profit with its gaming consoles, especially after the release of the Xbox 360. Not ONCE have I
ever heard about them actually losing money. So far I haven't seen any evidence to any of your claims except for Lloydy's 1 link, which is an article & not a primary source.

Regardless, I plan on looking into this more myself. I will post what I find for your benefit.

 

I looked into it, found some articles of my own, & my original opinion stays.

They're still not primary sources, but they're certainly more reputable than Lloydy's article - his ONLY evidence comes from a chart that's "borrowed" from NeoGAF, which is NOT & NEVER has been a reliable site for anything more than rumors which is what
this is. Nothing more.

The most recent article I found was from Business Insider, which talks more about how MS compares to Sony. It doesn't say anything about MS taking a loss on what they are actually selling. The very same article even goes on to say that it shouldn't have
much of an impact on the company's bottom line.

www.businessinsider.com/things-are-looking-pretty-bad-for-microsofts-xbox-one-2014-2

All of the other articles I could find on the subject are YEARS old...

Here's another article from Business Insider that talks about how MS takes a loss on every Xbox 360 console sold, but it also goes on to say that MS makes up for it by selling games & Xbox Live Gold subscriptions. It's from 2011.

www.businessinsider.com/next-xbox-may-be-profitable-on-day-one-2011-4

Here's an article from 1Up.com about how MS announced their 1st ever year-over-year quartlerly loss in revenue, but that doesn't mean they're losing money - it just means they didn't make enough as the year before. In the article, the Chief financial officer
at the time basically said he wasn't worried - if he wasn't, why should we? This was back in 2009.

www.1up.com/.../microsoft-xbox-group-loses-31m

The last article I found was from Gamespot, & it pretty much reiterates what the article from Business Insider was saying about how MS is losing money on every console, but it dates as far back as 2005.

www.gamespot.com/.../1100-6140383

So what can I take from this? Well, MS has been losing money on every console for years, but has been making up for it through games & subscriptions. Not to mention that the Xbox 360 never stopped selling - it still sells today! The Xbox One has also been
selling at a profit unlike the Xbox 360, and with over 3 million sold & counting, I'm not worried in the slightest & neither should you. If the Xbox brand truly was failing & it's near the top of the gaming industry, what does that say about the gaming industry?
Also, if they've been losing money for so long, why give it up now when they're starting to turn a major profit? It just doesn't make sense, IMO.

 

Hmm doesnt look good for the industry does it. If xbox is a black hole for microsoft, Sony's future looking bleak bar stripping down a number of its dud assets (tvs etc), and nintendo cant sell anything.

 

Hmm stoke the fire or not ?

www.bloomberg.com/.../sony-forecasts-annual-loss-as-hirai-turnaround-stalls-on-tvs.html

www.forbes.com/.../triple-points-daniel-loeb-urges-sony-to-break-up-the-business-what-that-means-for-playstation