I think we just got the full context for the Kinect-less SKU. We'd seen the trends in the NPD and other data, but the shipment trajectory at the start of the quarter must have been pretty dire. And the new SKU didn't move the needle that much. Pretty rough position to be in.
i think the xbox one was really geared at pleasing shareholders or at least the board of directors who viewed the platform as a perpetual money loser. everything about the initial reveal that favored huge publishers and seemingly punished all but the gamers with the most income was done to maximize profits out of a narrow but lucrative fanbase. somehow they thought what they were doing would have been readily accepted, or at least wouldn't have been met with the backlash it received. i wonder if going back on everything the xbox one was originally going to be, combined with the slow post-launch sales puts the system in a far worse standing than it appears.
i mean frankly, ~6m in about 9 months really isn't bad, but given the context of what microsoft wanted out of this thing, i can't help but feel it's performing far below expectations.