News
Xbox aiming for profit in ‘08
Ben Parfitt May 4 2007, 3:15pm
Robbie Bach says entertainment division to make a profit next year
Following last week’s news that Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division is continuing to lose money, boss Robbie Bach has claimed that it is on track to post a profit next year.
Speaking to eWeek, the Entertainment and Devices boss stated: "It's a business that will be profitable next year. We'll make money next year and that will be the first time, which is pretty exciting."
Last week’s results saw that despite Microsoft’s record-breaking overall revenue of $14.4 billion for the quarter ending March 31st, the operating loss for the Entertainment and Devices Division reached $315 million.
However, this figure did represent a 22 per cent improvement over the same period the year before.
Bach added: "Right now we're doing a pretty good job. We're humming pretty well in the business. Game attach rate is the highest level in history for a game console at this stage in the life cycle. Xbox Live has over six million members. The pieces are in place to drive the proverbial billion dollars."
He then went on to comment on his rival’s current market performance:
"I think Nintendo and Microsoft are clearly in the driver's seat on what's happening in this generation. Sony I think has some real challenges. They've got a pricing problem, they have a cost problem, they have a content problem, and they don't have an online service.
“Wii is a very nice product, but it actually has a relatively specific audience and a fairly specific appeal."
