Xbox is (probably) not for sale | Opinion

Xbox is (probably) not for sale | Opinion As the Xbox business’ throes continue, the notion that Microsoft wishes to sell or spin off the division has gained ground – but the impetus for selling is unclear, and the chances of finding a buyer are low. This week’s abrasion came from Microsoft’s own financial results – a third straight quarter of decline for the Xbox business, with a 10% slump in Xbox content and services (and a 29% drop in hardware sales) dragging the results from the company’s “More Personal Computing” division down 4% overall. This quarter’s 10% decline for Xbox drove a 4% drop for its enclosing division, More Personal Computing – which includes Windows, Surface, and Bing, along with Xbox – but the company’s overall numbers were still up strongly, with an 18% growth in revenue and a 31% growth in net income. That leaves us looking for a buyer with that $40-50bn kind of money to spend – and while big money deals are still possible in the current climate, as the imminent closing of the $55 billion deal to take Electronic Arts private demonstrates, the potential purchasers for a gigantic business like Xbox are extremely thin on the ground.