Microsoft TV Strategy Getting a Makeover with New Xbox Executive?
By Andrew McLaughlin |
April 25th, 2006
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Good news out of Redmond is hard to come by these days and the shake up over the leadership of the Microsoft TV group is yet another sign that things aren’t going as planned. It was announced last week that the former division head Moishe Lichtman is resigning his post but will remain with the company (via IP Democracy). It seems there is a piling on of bad news with the announcement of further Vista delays along with some recent critical reviews of the latest Vista builds. If there is a bright spot in all of this it is that a former executive from the high flying Xbox division is stepping into the Microsoft TV vacancy.
The new division head is Enrique Rodriguez who was formerly responsible for developing technology partnerships for the Xbox division. Rodriguez should bring a vast amount of knowledge to the position in striking deals that can help further its software business that helps to deliver telephony and video over fiber lines. It could also mean further integration of TV strategy into the Xbox platform.
My personal belief is that Microsoft has some grandiose strategy to become a dominate video distribution company. They would have the ability to seed the enabling technology through Vista, Xbox, handheld devices and set-top boxes. Of course this would require significant coordination amongst several internal Microsoft divisions so I’m probably wrong. It does seem that this could be an interesting strategy with some big upside. I’ll be keeping an eye on the Microsoft TV division to see if the new leadership can force some further integration amongst the other divisions.
Filed in: Industry Buzz