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News

  Microsoft Admits To 2009 Sales Concerns
by David Jenkins
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December 4, 2008
 
Microsoft Admits To 2009 Sales Concerns
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Shane Kim, vice president of strategy and business development for Microsoft’s games business, has described himself as only “cautiously optimistic” about the 2008 winter gift-buying season and even more concerned about 2009.

Despite enjoying its best-ever performance over the Thanksgiving "Black Friday" shopping weekend, Kim voiced concern over the general state of the world economy and what it could mean for the video games market.

Speaking to news service Reuters, Kim said that 2008’s figure of 20 percent growth for the market is not likely to be repeated next year.

"Who knows, maybe flat performance will be considered a remarkable achievement," said Kim. "It's difficult to predict the future," he added, referring to remarks from some analysts that the games industry is to some degree “recession-resistant”.

According to Kim, Microsoft’s games business is planning for "tough times" and looking for additional opportunities for cost cutting. "A big objective for us is to deliver most entertainment value for the dollar," he added.

Kim’s comments follow those made by Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division corporate VP and CFO Mindy Mount last month, in which she claimed that "the interactive entertainment business is poised to weather this storm a lot better than other businesses."
 
   
 
Comments

Jason Smith
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at least he is honest

Christian Keichel
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I remember everybody saying the industry is recession proof a few weeks ago.

Daniel Lipton
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Late '07 expectations were that HW sales would peak in '08, so to say that 2009 will be the console peak speaks extremely well for the industry. 2010 is looking more and more like the likely SW peak - who knows, perhaps ERTS can make guidance!

John Palamarchuk
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The game industry has proven recession resistance / recession proof for the last 10+ years of ups and downs.

Xbox 360's recent sales surge are purely due to massive price cuts. Right now you can get a brand new, non-refurb 360 from dell for 160 bucks. Who can deny that kind of a price for what the 360 offers?

Seems like Shane's just being honest with the fact that after you cut the price so far to increase sales, you can't cut it anymore. 360 is reaching that point and still has a loooooooooooong way to go with sales in its lifetime to be considered a success.

Emanuele D'Arrigo
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"The game industry has proven recession resistance / recession proof for the last 10+ years of ups and downs."

Except there has been no real recession in the past 10 years.



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