• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Stephen Elop to lead Microsoft's Devices and Studios (includes the xbox))

Jodell88

Jodell88

Diamond Member
Why is everyone so certain that Microsoft will sell off Xbox? The new CEO follows the board and the board says that Xbox is an essential part of Microsoft, it is Gates' baby almost.

They are basically putting Elop in charge of the division that will include the Nokia hardware division that they bought. This makes perfect sense. He was always supposed to be in charge of that division with Larson-Green as soon as the merger was announced. This has more to do with Larson-Green finding another place in Microsoft and nothing to do with Elop put in charge to sell off Xbox (which he can't).
 
The Xbox group/division is the one place that Microsoft can get risky with innovation and technology and hope to gain traction. Corporate America and business in general won't allow for that typically. Put interesting technology in a younger generation of people's hands and when they mature, they push corporate culture forward by recommending or demanding things like Kinect in the board room instead of Polycom.

Xbox, as long as it's even marginally successful is where things can be tested before they hit the big money business in the board room. You can't tell me that the left/right blade interface of the original OS didn't drive the Windows 8 swipe in/out design. Or that they didn't try out the tile design on Xbox before it ever hit the rest of the computing world (good, bad or ugly).
 
MarkXIX said:
The Xbox group/division is the one place that Microsoft can get risky with innovation and technology and hope to gain traction. Corporate America and business in general won't allow for that typically. Put interesting technology in a younger generation of people's hands and when they mature, they push corporate culture forward by recommending or demanding things like Kinect in the board room instead of Polycom.

Xbox, as long as it's even marginally successful is where things can be tested before they hit the big money business in the board room. You can't tell me that the left/right blade interface of the original OS didn't drive the Windows 8 swipe in/out design. Or that they didn't try out the tile design on Xbox before it ever hit the rest of the computing world (good, bad or ugly).
Click to expand...
Another thing is that Sony is in a more difficult position right now compared to Microsoft with their gaming platform. The PS4 pretty much has to generate profit or Sony is in big trouble. Their stock rating was lowered a few weeks ago to just above junk status. Their electronics division is not doing well and they just laid off a few hundred people here in San Diego. They also recently announced that they are selling off their PC business.

Microsoft has literally billions of dollars to burn. They already sunk their money into the Xbox and it's not losing them much money right now. They may as well stick with it and see what happens. It would be a short sided decision based on short term stock prices if they sold off Xbox.
 
rockyct said:
Another thing is that Sony is in a more difficult position right now compared to Microsoft with their gaming platform. The PS4 pretty much has to generate profit or Sony is in big trouble. Their stock rating was lowered a few weeks ago to just above junk status. Their electronics division is not doing well and they just laid off a few hundred people here in San Diego. They also recently announced that they are selling off their PC business.

Microsoft has literally billions of dollars to burn. They already sunk their money into the Xbox and it's not losing them much money right now. They may as well stick with it and see what happens. It would be a short sided decision based on short term stock prices if they sold off Xbox.
Click to expand...

What? Sony is a Japanese company and they've been losing money for years, not just recently. They are too iconic a firm to "be in big trouble". As with many Japanese firms, if they get into trouble they'll just run to Daddy Warbucks (aka Japanese Government) for money or investment. They are selling non-essentials to clean up house because the new CEO has certain priorities. It is Microsoft that has the problem with their Xbox division. They are losing the console war and the daily price drops show that...

As for Microsoft, didn't Larson-Green just get the reins to that division? Why would they give it to her only to take it away? Makes no sense to me.
 
Dari said:
As for Microsoft, didn't Larson-Green just get the reins to that division? Why would they give it to her only to take it away? Makes no sense to me.
Click to expand...

I can think of a few reasons.
1. New CEO.
2. They will own Nokia phone's now.
3. It's now clear that the Xbox One is failing.
 
BladeVenom said:
I can think of a few reasons.
1. New CEO.
2. They will own Nokia phone's now.
3. It's now clear that the Xbox One is failing.
Click to expand...

1 and 2 were well known in advance and it's not as if Ballmer decided on his own to give it to her. As for 3, again, she just got the position recently so it's not her fault since she was not head of the division long enough to be blamed for its failure. It makes no sense.
 
BladeVenom said:
Elop did say they should sell it off, and now they put him in charge of it. Elop is known for selling off businesses.
Click to expand...
Where else would Elop go in Microsoft? They bought Nokia devices, they may as well put him in charge of the division that includes what was Nokia's hardware. Nadella has said Xbox is essential to the company and he is the new CEO. The board has also said that Xbox will not be sold off.

Dari said:
What? Sony is a Japanese company and they've been losing money for years, not just recently. They are too iconic a firm to "be in big trouble". As with many Japanese firms, if they get into trouble they'll just run to Daddy Warbucks (aka Japanese Government) for money or investment. They are selling non-essentials to clean up house because the new CEO has certain priorities. It is Microsoft that has the problem with their Xbox division. They are losing the console war and the daily price drops show that...

As for Microsoft, didn't Larson-Green just get the reins to that division? Why would they give it to her only to take it away? Makes no sense to me.
Click to expand...
Microsoft is actually doing ok with the Xbox now. It bled money for a while, but it's stable right now. There really is no reason to sell it at this point. The company has piles of money. The Xbox One has sold about 4 million vs. PS4's 5.5 million in about three months. That's not great, but it's hardly a failure considering that they are going to have a giant push for Titanfall next month. Microsoft wrote down a billion dollars for Surface and yet they released new models last fall and are coming out with an LTE version in a few weeks. They have money to burn and they love the Xbox. It's not going anywhere.

Basically, Microsoft got reorged. Larson-Green was previously with Sinofsky with Office and Windows and after the reorg, she was put in charge of Devices and Studios. Microsoft buys Nokia, says Elop will be put in charge of the division that Nokia will be a part of, Devices and Studios. My guess is that Larson-Green was meant to be temporary until Elop came in with Nokia and she was supposed to report to Elop. She hasn't done anything with devices in the past so her original placement was more strange than the role she'll be getting now. I'm actually surprised she's still at Microsoft considering Microsoft has cleared out most of Sinofsky's team.

Here's what the press report (http://press.nokia.com/2013/09/03/n...oft-in-eur-5-44-billion-all-cash-transaction/ ) said when Microsoft announced it was buying Nokia back in September: "Stephen Elop will step aside as President and CEO of Nokia Corporation, resign from the Board of Directors, and will become Executive Vice President, Devices & Services." This was planned since September (and maybe even earlier) before the Xbox One came out.
 
Dari said:
As for 3, again, she just got the position recently so it's not her fault since she was not head of the division long enough to be blamed for its failure. It makes no sense.
Click to expand...

I agree the Xbox failing isn't her fault, but if they want to sell the division, Elop is the better choice.
 
rockyct said:
Where else would Elop go in Microsoft? They bought Nokia devices, they may as well put him in charge of the division that includes what was Nokia's hardware. Nadella has said Xbox is essential to the company and he is the new CEO. The board has also said that Xbox will not be sold off.


Microsoft is actually doing ok with the Xbox now. It bled money for a while, but it's stable right now. There really is no reason to sell it at this point. The company has piles of money. The Xbox One has sold about 4 million vs. PS4's 5.5 million in about three months. That's not great, but it's hardly a failure considering that they are going to have a giant push for Titanfall next month. Microsoft wrote down a billion dollars for Surface and yet they released new models last fall and are coming out with an LTE version in a few weeks. They have money to burn and they love the Xbox. It's not going anywhere.

Basically, Microsoft got reorged. Larson-Green was previously with Sinofsky with Office and Windows and after the reorg, she was put in charge of Devices and Studios. Microsoft buys Nokia, says Elop will be put in charge of the division that Nokia will be a part of, Devices and Studios. My guess is that Larson-Green was meant to be temporary until Elop came in with Nokia and she was supposed to report to Elop. She hasn't done anything with devices in the past so her original placement was more strange than the role she'll be getting now. I'm actually surprised she's still at Microsoft considering Microsoft has cleared out most of Sinofsky's team.

Here's what the press report (http://press.nokia.com/2013/09/03/n...oft-in-eur-5-44-billion-all-cash-transaction/ ) said when Microsoft announced it was buying Nokia back in September: "Stephen Elop will step aside as President and CEO of Nokia Corporation, resign from the Board of Directors, and will become Executive Vice President, Devices & Services." This was planned since September (and maybe even earlier) before the Xbox One came out.
Click to expand...

I understand that. I'm just wondering why someone that high of profile would take such a temporary position. Since, as you mentioned, she was part of a team that most of whom have left Microsoft, maybe she was up for anything to stay at the firm. Your opinion makes sense considering that, at the time, many saw this new position as temporary because it was supposed to be a stepping stone for the CEO position.
 
Titanfall isn't going to boost sales to PS4 levels.

XBONE sales will struggle until they unbundle that stupid camera many don't want.

They also better add video file support (i.e. mp4, mkv, avi, etc) ala Xbox360 or sales will further suffer.
 
I really don't think the X1 is failing by any stretch. The PS4 while ahead, isn't THAT ahead. The PS3 was in a similar position for years before it made a comeback. I think you'll see both consoles uptick in sales around the holidays when more high profile games are out.
 
dr150 said:
Titanfall isn't going to boost sales to PS4 levels.

XBONE sales will struggle until they unbundle that stupid camera many don't want.

They also better add video file support (i.e. mp4, mkv, avi, etc) ala Xbox360 or sales will further suffer.
Click to expand...

We couldn't figure out if we could even stream movies on the Xbone, because of the shit UI. You're confirming it's not even possible? Luckily, I have a sick Steambox hooked up to the same TV. I'm considering selling the MS system.... I play my steambox much more.

ImpulsE69 said:
I really don't think the X1 is failing by any stretch. The PS4 while ahead, isn't THAT ahead. The PS3 was in a similar position for years before it made a comeback. I think you'll see both consoles uptick in sales around the holidays when more high profile games are out.
Click to expand...

Great point. I've thought this many times. The PS3 was priced astonimically high for inferior hardware (Cell processor) at launch. After the price came down I think the PS3 ended up being better in the long run due it's simple OS that they only tweaked and added too.

Microsoft being an American technology company of course has to "upgrade" (butcher) an effective UI every 2 years or so. The Xbone UI is garbage. It will get better most likely, but god damn.... if it ain't broke don't fix it. Morons.
 
Last edited:
lamedude said:
All but 2 (MS & Juniper Networks) of the companies he's worked at have been acquired. Lotus to IBM, Boston Market to McDonalds, Macromedia to Adobe, and Nokia's phone division to MS.
Click to expand...
Except that it would literally be him vs. the CEO and the Microsoft board if he did want to sell Xbox. He's there to watch over Nokia's hardware.

dr150 said:
Titanfall isn't going to boost sales to PS4 levels.

XBONE sales will struggle until they unbundle that stupid camera many don't want.

They also better add video file support (i.e. mp4, mkv, avi, etc) ala Xbox360 or sales will further suffer.
Click to expand...

The rumor is that they may remove the Blu-ray drive and drop the price $100. That makes more sense in the long run than removing Kinect. The voice commands aren't perfect but they work well overall and can be pretty cool. In the mean time, bundling the Xbox One with a free copy of Titanfall should help a bit.
 
KlokWyze said:
We couldn't figure out if we could even stream movies on the Xbone, because of the shit UI. You're confirming it's not even possible? Luckily, I have a sick Steambox hooked up to the same TV. I'm considering selling the MS system.... I play my steambox much more.



Great point. I've thought this many times. The PS3 was priced astonimically high for inferior hardware (Cell processor) at launch. After the price came down I think the PS3 ended up being better in the long run due it's simple OS that they only tweaked and added too.

Microsoft being an American technology company of course has to "upgrade" (butcher) an effective UI every 2 years or so. The Xbone UI is garbage. It will get better most likely, but god damn.... if it ain't broke don't fix it. Morons.
Click to expand...

ImpulsE69 said:
I really don't think the X1 is failing by any stretch. The PS4 while ahead, isn't THAT ahead. The PS3 was in a similar position for years before it made a comeback. I think you'll see both consoles uptick in sales around the holidays when more high profile games are out.
Click to expand...

Ummm, the PS3 came out a year later and was more expensive. That is why it was behind most of the time. But the thing that projected it ahead of Xbox in worldwide (not US) sales is that Playstation is more popular globally than Xbox. Today, the tables are completely turned. PS4 came out earlier, and in more places. It is also cheaper and it's still more popular globally than Xbox. Add the fact that it's more powerful and the XB1 features (Kinect, connecting to cable systems) cannot really be utilized in many other countries and you have a slam dunk for Sony while Microsoft's system is highly leveraged for America and nowhere else. So, today, Sony has all the advantages and none of the drawbacks. I seriously doubt MS will ever catchup unless they slash the price of the XB1.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top