SEPT. 20, 2007 • After failing to make much of a market share dent in Japan with the Xbox 360, Microsoft has now targeted Europe as its primary territory focus outside the U.S. “The No. 1 objective is to win on a global basis and that may mean winning some markets and losing others. Europe is our priority focus right now,” Microsoft group product manager Aaron Greenberg told Bloomberg News.
Impact: When the original Xbox launched in the 2001/2002 timeframe DFC argued that Europe, not Japan, needed to be the main focus for Microsoft. The problem for Microsoft is that five years later they may have poured so many resources into Japan that it cost them Europe. This is especially true given Sony’s more aggressive price posture in Europe of late. This is definitely the smart move for Microsoft, but is it too little, too late?
