secondspace
Member
It doesn't seem impossible for the new machines to be the last proper console generation, it certainly doesn't look like they'll do better than the current machines. Who'd buy into that business?
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MS CEO candidate Stephen Elop said to consider selling Xbox business, killing Bing
- Thread starter ComputerMKII
- Start date
I would miss the background images.
Man-is-Obsolete
Member
Sega to re-enter the console space. Lol!
If, and that is a big IF, MS sell their Xbox division I think the buyer wouldn't be someone as prolific as Samsung. Would probably be some investment firm no one has heard, but makes tons of money.
If, and that is a big IF, MS sell their Xbox division I think the buyer wouldn't be someone as prolific as Samsung. Would probably be some investment firm no one has heard, but makes tons of money.
I actually wouldn't like to see that happen as it wouldn't add much of value to the company IMO.
Would be funny though, especially after MS wanted to buy Nintendo and was rejected.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Of all the CEO candidates I thought Elop was the most likely to keep Xbox open for business. I can't see any of the others ploughing billions into a low margin business with a very poor ROI (at least for MS).
Honestly, if the Bone doesn't come out of the gate and smash all expectations in terms of revenue, profitability, units sold and XBL subscriptions it is on the chopping block. Also, Elop is the type to poison the chalice before selling to ensure that his decision looks like a good one in retrospect. If he is the one to sell it off, then it will be sold to a clueless PE firm who will just fuck it up completely and end up selling it off piecemeal a few years later to recoup their investment.
The ideal scenario would be a sale to Samsung or Panasonic, the latter has harboured gaming ambitions for a long time, I'm not sure whether Samsung are really that interested in gaming though. Another off the wall idea would be a sale to Disney or Time Warner as it would give them another angle with which to compete with Sony in the content and media markets.
Honestly, if the Bone doesn't come out of the gate and smash all expectations in terms of revenue, profitability, units sold and XBL subscriptions it is on the chopping block. Also, Elop is the type to poison the chalice before selling to ensure that his decision looks like a good one in retrospect. If he is the one to sell it off, then it will be sold to a clueless PE firm who will just fuck it up completely and end up selling it off piecemeal a few years later to recoup their investment.
The ideal scenario would be a sale to Samsung or Panasonic, the latter has harboured gaming ambitions for a long time, I'm not sure whether Samsung are really that interested in gaming though. Another off the wall idea would be a sale to Disney or Time Warner as it would give them another angle with which to compete with Sony in the content and media markets.
Ploid 3.0
Member
Happens at launch of Xbox one he said.
Cheesemeister
Member
Microsoft kept Sega's button layout warm for them.
TheRealTalker
Banned
Noooooo not Bing
MattPeters
Member
People are mentioning Samsung...how much cash do they have?
I'd hope for Google but that won't happen with the Xbox being a Windows platform....
I'd hope for Valve but that won't happen with the Xbox being a Windows platform....
Seriously...would have to be an OEM that doesn't mind running Windows on its current offerings (like computers and tablets)....guess that would be Samsung, Lenovo, Panasonic, Sony (!!) etc...
I'd hope for Valve but that won't happen with the Xbox being a Windows platform....
Seriously...would have to be an OEM that doesn't mind running Windows on its current offerings (like computers and tablets)....guess that would be Samsung, Lenovo, Panasonic, Sony (!!) etc...
the main takeaway for me is that whether or not the Xbox/entertainment division will be sold, it will certainly be under (even more) pressure within MS to be more profitable
Personally, I think many of the decisions surrounding the Xbox One that I don't agree with are already the result of a larger focus on profitability. They've grown their base with the 360, now they try to squeeze all the profit out of that base (IMHO).
So in that sense, it seems very likely that the Xbox brand will be even less aligned with my gaming preferences in the future than it already is at the moment ...
On the other hand I don't need to remind anyone that without competition from the likes of MS, Sony wouldn't have made the radical changes that we're seeing now. Competition is important for consumers, so as much as I dislike the Xbox brand right now I don't want them to disappear ...
Personally, I think many of the decisions surrounding the Xbox One that I don't agree with are already the result of a larger focus on profitability. They've grown their base with the 360, now they try to squeeze all the profit out of that base (IMHO).
So in that sense, it seems very likely that the Xbox brand will be even less aligned with my gaming preferences in the future than it already is at the moment ...
On the other hand I don't need to remind anyone that without competition from the likes of MS, Sony wouldn't have made the radical changes that we're seeing now. Competition is important for consumers, so as much as I dislike the Xbox brand right now I don't want them to disappear ...
digoutyoursoul
Member
NeoGaf should buy it
Silly.Mikey
Banned
They wanna sell the failure of Xbox to concentrate on the success that is Surface.
If this guy is ever in charge, im done with MS for good.
Bing is absolute horseshit.
Was looking for ASUS mainboard drivers recently when I reinstalled my PC. Tried Bing because I didn't download Firefox yet and it's the standard search engine in IE.
First page of results on Bing was nothing but third party driver sites riddled with ads and malware and no actual drivers.
Then did the same search on Google, literally the first result was the official ASUS driver download site for my mainboard.
Nightengale
Member
Much of Bing's market share... are arguably 'bought' with money and partnerships.
Facebook, Twitter, Apple Siri, Yahoo!
So much money spent there, and yet it barely does anything against the Fortress of Larry Page.
Imagine if MS cedes away from those deals. They can kiss their meager 25% market share in US goodbye.
Angry Fork
Member
I use bing images because google images turned into family friendly bullshit, automatically censoring suggestive or naked pictures and you can't turn it off.
robertsan21
Member
Google will buy Xbox. 
Of course it can, it's generally better than Google.
DC1
Member
Regardless of who is selected by the board, it has to:
-Business as usual under
-Under the same ooperational funding
-Up until the last freaking minute
For the employees of the XBox division and bing/specific Web services, this absolutely sucks. The uncertainty of "what change is coming" coupled with the knowledge that absolute change is coming is gut wrenching.
If/when this goes down, please wish all these folks and their associated families the best.
I've been through a number of corporate transitions. Fun is not the word to describe them.
Watching your neck and back at the same time is a bitch.
-Business as usual under
-Under the same ooperational funding
-Up until the last freaking minute
For the employees of the XBox division and bing/specific Web services, this absolutely sucks. The uncertainty of "what change is coming" coupled with the knowledge that absolute change is coming is gut wrenching.
If/when this goes down, please wish all these folks and their associated families the best.
I've been through a number of corporate transitions. Fun is not the word to describe them.
Watching your neck and back at the same time is a bitch.
It would give them the online infrastructure Nintendo really needs. That and they get Rare back.
Haha, that would be great.
Hydrargyrus
Member
Google should buy xbox brand!...
...and Bing too xD
...and Bing too xD
Scylla and Charybdis, together at last
Google will buy Xbox.
I was going to suggest that - it's an appealing thought because they'd have the resources to buy and keep it in one piece.
OTOH, MS might not be willing to sell to Google
And Google might not like the legacy MS software connections that would need to be maintained...Nightengale
Member
Valve will take MS's place as the core gaming alternative and all will be well. We don't need Microsoft to keep Sony honest anymore.
gamerforever
Banned
Gift it to Sega
ComputerMKII
Banned
I would be curious to see Amazon buy Xbox. Amazon isn't afraid of not making profits in order to expand rapidly.
Also, I like Amazon much better than Microsoft as a company.
Also, I like Amazon much better than Microsoft as a company.
Better still without the deep pockets of MS willing to burn money for exclusives, Xbox looks extremely weak.
semiconscious
Member
well, that is what 'nipping at the heels' is all about - yapping your way to traction...
we do indeed live in pretty sleazy times
...Triggerhappytel
Member
To answer my own question, yes; Tencent are enormous - the third largest internet company in the world behind Google and Amazon, with a market valuation of over 100 million USD. They've shown interest in gaming companies in the past, so I think they'd be the kind of company who might be interested in taking over Xbox. But I expect if the Xbox business as a whole were sold off to any other company the first thing they'd do would be to drastically reduce the size of the division, including selling or closing unproven or unprofitable developers and cutting down on the numbers of staff.
Nightengale
Member
Fixed.
Slayer-33
Liverpool-2
Pie and Beans
Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Samsung GalaXy Box. I can see it now. I think the irony is, Samsung could go hogwild snapping up cheap Korean studios and actually create quite a bold first party. Imagine Tencent getting in on it too.
But if you wait until Xbone actually falls behind PS4, would that not show that there isn't actually that much value in the Xbox brand? Why would anyone want to take over a failing venture when there wouldn't be many opportunities to turn it around?
Samsung and Amazon are capable enough to have their own 'Apple TV' without ever going into the console business. Apple has already knocked the industry sideways without ever getting dirty in this 'console war'.
LSauchelli
Member
Does anyone have any idea how much tge Xbox division is worth? The R&D alone would make it way too expensive for any company to buy it, right?
Whipped Spartan
Member
Sony can buy Xbox then. One console future
Oh...I like this one (not for me but as a concept)...they certainly can provide the secret cloud sauce and it aligns nicely with thier existing business model of making little to no profits
robertsan21
Member
I was going to suggest that - it's an appealing thought because they'd have the resources to buy and keep it in one piece.
OTOH, MS might not be willing to sell to Google
I guess they would get Xbox for cheap money, seeing how MS has run it into the ground with Xbox One...