Former Xbox Exec Says Microsoft Would Stop Making Hardware If It Could

I always wondered why they never surrendered the xbox to the OEMs, I'm aware this would dilute the brand and the famed consistency of consoles, but if they were to control the chipset, OS and maybe the APU/CPU, would it really be that much of a problem? What are most Intel NUC boxes but a bga chip with a few of its usb, sata, HDMI, etc., ports enumerated, the OEMs really don't add anything besides build quality, a better box, and what they choose to expose to the consumer. So long as MS locks down the center, they could make the others assume the risk, no?

Sadly, it makes business sense - the margins are superior for the Xbox division if they were purely cloud-first from a delivery standpoint (same prices as physical but much lower costs in aggregate).<p>And this is why I am a retro gamer (for reference - an Xbox 360, PS2, and Wii is now &quot;retro&quot; as well).