Microsoft -- unlike Nokia -- cannot fall/revert back to the tyres business

Summary: Xbox One is a failed product and "Surface" is losing hundreds of millions of dollars

THE LATEST episode of TechBytes covers the good news that "Microsoft May Halt Xbox One Production"; it's news that reminds us of an important fact: "We know that the company has shipped 5 million consoles to retailers since launch, but Microsoft hasn’t been as forthcoming with actual end user sales data."

When Microsoft does not divulge these figures it always means that Microsoft has something to hide. The same thing has historically been true when it comes to Windows (number of licences issued) and other Microsoft hardware. Microsoft is full of lies.

In other interesting news, Microsoft's "Surface Loses" because it's a losing product, by design. As Robert Pogson put it (citing a Microsoft booster, Gavin Clarke): "Do the maths: it cost M$ $2.1billion to sell $1.8billion worth of Surfaces… That’s a loss of $300 million. Eewww! Even without charging itself the tax, they can’t compete in the market."

The headline at The Register (chosen by the editor) is Microsoft: The MORE Surfaces it sells, the MORE money it loses" (so it's a bit like Xbox, which lost billions of dollars over the years).

Microsoft is really struggling to re-invent itself for the post-Windows world. So far it has failed and there is now some Microsoft advertising from Microsoft Peter who promotes subscription-based Windows -- a horrible idea which is sure to bring rise to GNU/Linux-based operating systems ($0 purchase and subscription charges).

In this article we are citing no Microsoft-hostile sources; instead we link to props of Microsoft, rather than journalists. It helps show just how bad things have become for Microsoft. Microsoft Jack has been defecting away from Microsoft as of late (we wish him well for that), repeatedly promoting some of Microsoft's competitors for the first time in many years, unlike some in the British press. Gavin Clarke may pretend to be covering GNU/Linux, but most of the time he is just the source/outlet of Microsoft agenda, including his new piece whitewashing Bill Hilf.

We are entering an interesting era where Microsoft is not only struggling (along with Apple) but is also fighting publicly and aggressively against GNU/Linux using attack ads (more so under the 'new' leadership) and racketeering. ⬆