LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. said on Friday that it would delay the launch of its XBox video game console by one week to Nov. 15 but declined to say whether the number of units available at launch would meet the company's initial target or fall short, as many now believe inevitable.
The decision to delay the much-anticipated launch of the next-generation game platform was taken in the past week after a review of the company's preparations, said Robbie Bach, chief XBox officer for Microsoft. Microsoft still plans to ship between 1 million and 1.5 million units to retailers by the end of the calendar year, Bach said.
When asked if Microsoft was sticking by its initial projection of making 600,000 to 800,000 available units at launch, or lowering it, as many in the industry now believe, Bach would not provide a figure, saying "we've just moved on to not focusing on the day-one number."
News source: reuters.com
The decision to delay the much-anticipated launch of the next-generation game platform was taken in the past week after a review of the company's preparations, said Robbie Bach, chief XBox officer for Microsoft. Microsoft still plans to ship between 1 million and 1.5 million units to retailers by the end of the calendar year, Bach said.
When asked if Microsoft was sticking by its initial projection of making 600,000 to 800,000 available units at launch, or lowering it, as many in the industry now believe, Bach would not provide a figure, saying "we've just moved on to not focusing on the day-one number."
News source: reuters.com
In the UK and several places in the US, copies of Microsoft Flight simulator where taken of the shelves. The theory being that the terrorists could have used the program to train for their mission. Also, the new version of the game has been delayed slightly as the World Trade Centers were being removed. Many other games were pulled such as Spider Man. Also, many movies were pulled.
In other MS news, the case between MS and the US Justice Department has been delayed a week. This will further hinder any attempt to stop the shipping of Windows XP.
The president of Akamai was killed in one of the planes that hit the WTC. Akamai is involved with distribution of images and files all over the web. They are the Connexion of images and more.
Yet, I do not think these will be the real effects on the industry. I believe that consumer confidence is going to drop to the bottom. The market for computer games, new processors, and better operating systems will not exist. This will create a massive slowdown as to the future of computer development. This will mean all our news days in a few months will look like the last week’s stories.
As citizens of the world, we must continue to purchase as we have previously. This is the only way that we will salvage the tech industry and many others. Current war does not have a massive effect on the productivity of companies as it did in the past. I do not expect war to have a positive or negative effect on the economy.
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