Of course nobody is certain about how risky the console market is, nor does anyone know how big the return on investement will be in a few years, but the man has a point if he says that just throwing money at something isn't really the best way to invest. It seems to me that if you need 10 more "halo-size" hits, somebody didn't really do his or her homework properly.
On the other hand, one shouldn't account for sunk costs when calculating current future profits, which supports your point of "not closing down a now profitable division".
Just keep in mind that the profit of that division (and its possible growth scenarios) might be lower and more riskier than some other investments.
To end, I'd like to point out that Microsoft "sticking to their knitting" might be seen as a way to lower the risk involved, thus benefting the shareholder once more.
I think you both have a point, and that, like always, the truth is probably somewhere in between.
Graag had ik via deze weg melding gedaan van een vervelend incident.
Vorige zaterdag (5 juli) rond de middag ben ik met mijn vriendin en een vriend naar de Carrefour in Korbeek-Lo gegaan. We waren op zoek naar een luchtmatras.
Na het gamma bekeken te hebben en niet gevonden te hebben wat we zochten besluiten we de winkel zonder aankopen te verlaten. Er is geen "uitgang zonder aankoop" in voorgenoemde winkel.
Thus spake the master programmer: "After three days without programming, life becomes meaningless." -- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of Programming"