IP Democracy: XBox Key to Microsoft Strategy But Video Is the Sleeper App

As of 12:01 am, the XBox 360 is on the market and the spate of think pieces regarding Microsoft’s surprising hardware hit are rolling in. The latest: The Wall Street Journal has a front page article today highlighting the importance of the gaming device to Microsoft’s strategy, with the XBox serving as some kind of counterpoint to Apple’s runaway success iPod.

The article notes that Microsoft is a little leery of competing against its PC partners, despite the fact that the Xbox has almost the fully capabilities of a computer. But, what the article doesn’t note is that Microsoft typically doesn’t compete with TV set manufacturers, or even set-top hardware providers such as Motorola or Scientific Atlanta, soon to be Cisco-owned. So television is fair game.

It’s been a natural concept for several years that the XBox is the Trojan horse for Microsoft to finally gain a foothold in the interactive TV arena, a grip that has been slippery for the Redmond giant for almost ten years. Indeed, last week’s announcement of a pact between Microsoft and CableLabs to build Windows Media technology capable of receiving via the PC cable’s video services is the first concrete step hinting that the XBox could become the sleeper killer video application for Microsoft. Along with the PC-based video envisioned by the cable industry and Microsoft is video received on the XBox platform.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on November 22, 2005 6:50 AM to IP Democracy