" RIP Xbox One 2013 - . 2013 Killed by Sony . . ." At the end of a bloody video game lounge , the web does not lack humor to comment on the future of the successor to the Xbox 360.
Memory player , game console has rarely seemed so criticized only six months of its release, to the point that less than a week after the show , Microsoft was quick to pick up on some of its most unpopular ads. But between his volte-face destabilizing his disastrous communication and its high price, the Xbox One can really rectify by Christmas ?
After the media frenzy of E3, it is now the actual sales that will serve justice , and between pale yellow indicators and major policy issues , the end of the year promises to be eventful .
FIRST SINCE 1995
Wednesday, June 12 , at the stroke of noon, Los Angeles. David Dufour , Xbox director of Microsoft France , awaits us at the booth of the manufacturer. The day before, Sony had closed his lecture by announcing punch its price and a challenge to rival assassin . Is then expected to return ambassador Microsoft groggy . Not at all . Warm voice , phosphorescent smile and impeccable composure , he went for half an hour in a quiet , fluffy evangelization speech : " Everyone agrees that our catalog and presentation of games at E3 were best , " he says immediately with aplomb. Less than 48 hours after the keynote from Sony, Microsoft, already preparing his reconquest operation. It was then the beginning.
The Redmond company has especially hit hard last week , returning quickly and dramatically on some of its projects the most criticized , as the flange of the opportunity or obligation to connect daily. Some saw it as a victory for players , others back. What dazzling reversal tells us at least , is that Microsoft does not take lightly the competition PlayStation 4 , and its launch should coincide , a few weeks or even days , to that of his own machine. A situation as rare as spectacular : we must return to the standoff between Saturn and PlayStation at Christmas 1994 in Japan and the fall of 1995 in the West , to find traces of a simultaneous front and launch of two consoles power equivalent . At the time, Sony was able to show - already - a formidable aggression through communication shifted and an aggressive price . Two axes on which Microsoft precisely today to relearn everything .
Why Xbox One has no right to fail
Reassure loyal to the brand , that first the first challenge of the Redmond , having lost some of the confidence of the players due to its procrastination on occasion. It was the sense of pedaling Don Mattrick . "With the announcement last week, they limited the damage ," observes an expert in the industry. " The challenge for them now is not to cut their installed base ." With its fifteen exclusive features, including a Halo under development and expected to launch Forza 5 , Xbox One Fortunately weapons to bring back some of his followers. Stays behind to convince consumers of the merits of its price, 499 euros against 399 for the PlayStation 4 . " Everything depends on our ability to explain our value ," says David Dufour. " Compared to our competitors , we can justify , layer by layer , the $ 100 difference? Me, I think we can ." And list the brand experience on network play , its advances in multimedia, advanced sharing tools , and most importantly, his voice navigation experience .
WALL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL PRICE
The price is certainly high, but a previous calls for the U.S. manufacturer: the successful launch of the PlayStation 3 in March 2007 to 599 € . At the time, the new Sony machine was reached to flow 600,000 copies in Europe in just two days , in the month of March , beating the record for the best start in Britain . When asked David Dufour if the price of the Xbox One can be a handicap , the argument is quickly found: " To my knowledge, the PlayStation 3 has not been a commercial failure , however if we are 100 euros? it cheaper to launch . "
However station to overconfidence . Unlike the PS3, the next Xbox will not be the only new console to land on the shelves at Christmas, and economic context works against the most expensive console. As we informed observer says , " over the launch of the PlayStation 3, the market is no longer the same . Today, over 400 euros , it is very hard to sell it either a tablet or a PC. goes the same for consoles. This is a psychological price. " In addition - and this is also true for the PS4 - the launch of the successor to the Xbox One could be parasitized by the exceptional longevity of this current generation of consoles. Their competitive price , the technology ecosystem lacking as spectacular as the transition to HD innovation, and the output of games like FIFA 14 , Assassin 's Creed IV GTA V and especially at year end may be much reasons, the most efficient players , wait at least next year to move to the next generation.
60 At 80 % MARKET SHARE FOR PS4 ?
Between his mistakes on occasion and superior to the PlayStation 4 tariff, Xbox One therefore starts with a negative handicap that reflects the first available indicators. Just after E3 - and therefore before turning jacket American manufacturer - five students from the School of Multimedia Internet had posted a simple survey, " Xbox vs PS One Four" . More than 100,000 voters have yet participated , mostly French , Americans, British and Germans , and the figures show unequivocal: 3 out of 4 are showing their preference for the Sony console . In some U.S. states, they are even 80% to overrule national console ! " There is a trend, but we need vigilance " tempers Laurent Michaud , a specialist in the video game industry with the firm iDate . " When we did a survey , it takes representativeness. Again , these are wild polls, they do not give any indication that those who responded, or Microsoft seeks a wider audience , the TV in the global sense , and these people are not voting . "
Amazon tops give a little more resistant to hasty conclusions: the United States last weekend , Xbox One was the first of preservations . But Microsoft has put on sale one bundle ... against four Sony, respectively the 2nd, 3rd , 4th and 5th places. The e-commerce site does not give specific numbers, impossible to draw a comparison cumulation. But outside pack , the most acclaimed game is a PS4 version of the Watch Dogs , far ahead of the first exclusive Microsoft. Condition of anonymity , a source suggests a sales ratio of about one to two PS4 Xbox One . If things were still there, and Sony would absorb between 60 and 80 % of sales on the next generation consoles .
Why Xbox One has no right to fail
FAIL : NOT GRANTED
More than three months before its official launch , it is obviously too early to bury Microsoft. It would firstly underestimate the American giant. Especially for Xbox One, failure is not an option. First, because the American company has invested huge sums to make their way in the console market , and supported his young range of machines when more than one would have withdrawn against all odds. Long , all divisions which belonged Xbox and Xbox 360 have been unprofitable . Between the costs of development and production, sales halftone and price cuts, Microsoft has lost close to $ 7.3 billion between 2002 and 2007. Since then, the branch & Home Entertainment Products of the firm has identified some 2.5 billion profit , a significant improvement , but still almost insignificant across the software giant : they represent just 0.5 % of its income over the period.
Yet the image of € 470 million for the launch of Xbox in Europe in 2002 , or $ 500 million for Kinect in the United States in 2010, Microsoft is investing heavily in its activity consolier , and does not count stop. After the death of Zune, the fiasco of Surface, the flop of Windows 8 and discrete outcomes of Windows Phone, the Xbox brand is now the only company to experience positive sales momentum to the general public. It now represents 13% of turnover of the company , and allows him , above all, not to be locked only in his professional activities ( Office suite , servers, etc. ) on which the Redmond company carries out the essential its profits.
COMPETITORS OF THE SHADOWS
Xbox One also has a tactical role . In the industrial battle fought behind the scenes between Microsoft , Google and Apple, the multimedia hub of the Redmond company will enable it to take a strategic advantage on the connected TV , a new Eldorado of Silicon Valley. By introducing the console in the center of living , MS plans to become the front door to the home screen , speed and take his two rivals on their chosen fields , the cloud distribution for Apple and Google search . And , replacing remotes by playing the voice command.
" Kinect could be an option ," concedes David Dufour, " but we assumed that this is being proposed is that the first thing people turn in their living room , it is their Xbox, that from it they have access to TV, VOD , music , internet , navigate between applications by voice . brief, a global TV experience. " HDMI socket incoming voice control through the various multimedia features, the Xbox One does not hide his ambition, to submit all its ecosystem flow of your screen area. In sum, a company that missed the turn and left smartphones Chrome, Chrome OS , Gmail or Gtalk reduce shrinking its strongholds in the PC world , television is now a strategic retreat luxury .
THE SPECTRUM OF THE WII U
Commercial duel looming Christmas is not just media . For Microsoft , the stakes behind are real and significant . More than just a console , Xbox One wants to television in 2015 years that the iPhone was the phone in the late 2000s. There is barely a month , one of the company executives , Yusuf Mehdi , advanced and next-generation consoles could affect between 400,000 and 1 billion people, or more than three times the current . The manufacturer is no longer simply the gamers, as the Xbox in his time and the Xbox 360 until 2010 , but all users of multimedia service.
The difficulty of the operation will be to entice its regular customers and rapidly expand to other consumers. The example of the Wii U is there to remind the audience of early adopters and enthusiasts of the brand is not enough to put a console in orbit, at least not in a sustainable manner . After a more than respectable launch in 2012, the newest Nintendo had indeed quickly collapsed, and sales today alongside depths of the PS Vita.
Why Xbox One has no right to fail
THE zapping IS YOU
To force the console to the public this Christmas , Microsoft has several levers. This has enabled a retracing some ads misperceived . He still others focus more on the price options. The most radical , of course, would be an outright decline . "We know that there are people who are sensitive to price," says David Dufour, " and perhaps expect the second, third, fourth lower prices . " . The company would not be in his first attempt . She also holds the historical record of the fastest and most spectacular discounts : April 26, 2002 , less than six weeks after the European launch of the first Xbox name , the Redmond company had spent his machine 479-299 euros. A discount of 37% in one month and a half , it still remains the ever - seen. However, such a scenario is difficult to imagine today, except to attend a dramatic drop in sales this fall.
The sales curve PS4 and Xbox One should dictate policy that will lead Microsoft to Christmas, and if their further imbalance could lead to a number of aggressive ads . Before coming to a hypothetical price drop , there is the manufacturer of other intermediate solutions provide gaming bundle, an exclusive lock for the holidays, or , more likely, offer a discount of 50 to 100 euros against a Gold membership for two years, on the model of the mobile phone . The only certainty where players Kinect proposed to replace the controller, Xbox One wants to replace the remote control. A one detail: the Redmond company does not intend to let zapper .
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