I’m starting to wonder if all this is because Microsoft is worried about Apple’s VR head set. They know Apple makes a phone everyone loves, they can’t compete with, headphones, they can’t compete with, since Apple Silicon apple makes computers they can’t compete with. That just leaves Microsoft with gaming. Apple Silicon GPUs are almost as good as gaming PCs and they consume about half the power. Microsoft said they would keep activision blizzard games on PlayStation but will they offer them too new comers. I think Microsoft is nervous.
Apple doesn’t take gaming seriously, otherwise they would have destroyed the Xbox too.
Apple make more money from gaming that Microsoft do. They take it plenty seriously, which means not getting distracted by adventures in living room console hardware.
You have to consider that console gaming is evolving into subscription services. And it looks like MS jumped ahead of the competition. In addition you have Sony entering soon, in addition to other companies like EA and Ubisoft. All of these companies have a strong library of games with a long list of studios. Compare that to Apple, that only have Apple arcade, and have no games or studios. I think Apple need to change soon if they want to be part of this market.
That's a market that hasn't made anyone any money yet. Apple are wise to sit it out until they can figure out an angle that is actually profitable. Apple Arcade seems to be doing ok.
I’m starting to wonder if all this is because Microsoft is worried about Apple’s VR head set. They know Apple makes a phone everyone loves, they can’t compete with, headphones, they can’t compete with, since Apple Silicon apple makes computers they can’t compete with. That just leaves Microsoft with gaming. Apple Silicon GPUs are almost as good as gaming PCs and they consume about half the power. Microsoft said they would keep activision blizzard games on PlayStation but will they offer them too new comers. I think Microsoft is nervous.
Apple doesn’t take gaming seriously, otherwise they would have destroyed the Xbox too.
Apple make more money from gaming that Microsoft do. They take it plenty seriously, which means not getting distracted by adventures in living room console hardware.
You have to consider that console gaming is evolving into subscription services. And it looks like MS jumped ahead of the competition. In addition you have Sony entering soon, in addition to other companies like EA and Ubisoft. All of these companies have a strong library of games with a long list of studios. Compare that to Apple, that only have Apple arcade, and have no games or studios. I think Apple need to change soon if they want to be part of this market.
That's a market that hasn't made anyone any money yet. Apple are wise to sit it out until they can figure out an angle that is actually profitable. Apple Arcade seems to be doing ok.
Apple Arcade is already in the market, so it looks like they thought what they did was going to be profitable. You said that Apple Arcade is OK, but I haven't seen any numbers from Apple supporting that.
"Sold at a loss" only considers component and manufacturing costs, and only applies to certain consoles at the beginning of their market cycle. The Switch has always been profitable relative to component and manufacturing costs, and the PS4 and PS5 with optical drive are also currently sold for more than their component and manufacturing costs.
But component and manufacturing costs are only part of the story; each of these devices requires a large R&D investment in hardware and software design and development (as well as manufacturing engineering and many other costs) which is amortized over the sales life of the system.
The bulk of Apple's (and Nintendo's, Sony's, Microsoft Xbox's and Google Play's) IAP commissions isn't really for payment processing or even operational costs; it is a business arrangement (sometimes called a platform or licensing fee) to enable the platform owner to make money via sales of games (including "free to play" games that rely on IAP) and other apps on their platform.
Although Microsoft might want platforms to reduce their commissions (in fact Microsoft has apps in the App Store and games in Nintendo's eShop), taking aim at the same game console/walled garden business model used for the Xbox might not be the best strategy. On the other hand, perhaps they're willing to take a hit on Xbox to boost the Windows platform.
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But component and manufacturing costs are only part of the story; each of these devices requires a large R&D investment in hardware and software design and development (as well as manufacturing engineering and many other costs) which is amortized over the sales life of the system.
The bulk of Apple's (and Nintendo's, Sony's, Microsoft Xbox's and Google Play's) IAP commissions isn't really for payment processing or even operational costs; it is a business arrangement (sometimes called a platform or licensing fee) to enable the platform owner to make money via sales of games (including "free to play" games that rely on IAP) and other apps on their platform.
Although Microsoft might want platforms to reduce their commissions (in fact Microsoft has apps in the App Store and games in Nintendo's eShop), taking aim at the same game console/walled garden business model used for the Xbox might not be the best strategy. On the other hand, perhaps they're willing to take a hit on Xbox to boost the Windows platform.