Friday, September 2, 2016

Do we need a Xbox TV? My answer is NO

It is a well known fact that Television are the next set of computers in the IoT world. Every Living room will be equipped with a huge screen connected to internet. And it can be controlled by a Media remote and a wireless gaming controller. This revolution is already started. Amazon, Apple, Roku, Google, Microsoft, Sony all are interested in this market.  First four are focused on media and later two are focused on Gaming.  Microsoft's market share in this huge living room Smart TV market is very low considering the fact that they have only  less than 1/3rd of Gaming console market. It is a threat to Microsoft. In future people will think why can't I buy a wifi enabled TV box instead of a PC. If your use case is watching movies online , playing games, or streaming some channels a TV box is enough. 
 
 
So do Microsoft need to launch a TV box in Xbox's brand. Microsoft have all the resources for that it have the Windows 10 Xbox version, a super cool hardware team, and now the Universal windows apps will work on Windows 10 Xbox version. And if Microsoft launch such an Xbox TV it will be a nice alternative to Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku TV etc. But I still don't think that is required. Because Microsoft is first and foremost a software company. Their hardware division is to boost their operating system and other software. A conceptual  Xbox TV won't do anything greater than Xbox One S. It will be price reduced version with less power which can't play Xbox apps. So what I will think is Microsoft should depend on OEMs for launching Windows 10 xbox TVs. Samsung, LG and many more OEMs might be interested in that. they can sell hardware and ask some perks from Microsoft's store revenue. Microsoft can expand the eco system and try for its Windows dominance over Living room. Let Amazon and Apple  to fight  with all OEM partners. And Xbox One will be stand out as  premium offering. Make sense? Let me know in comments.

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