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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dave who wrote (63236)	11/23/2001 12:27:58 PM
From: Uncle Frank	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

Dave, for reasons out of your control, you probably won't get an answer to your question. SI allows redundancy in screen names, and we already have a poster on this thread named "Dave". Member 7727152 Unfortunately Dave is a dedicated Microsoft detractor, who spins negative posts about the Evil Empire every day, so those who don't have him on <ignore> will read your question as yet another sarcastic riposte. Perhaps if you changed your name... uf

To: Dave who wrote (63236)	11/23/2001 1:50:02 PM
From: Dave	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

"Other Dave", Don't worry, even here on the MSFT thread, people aren't so petty that they would ignore you just because your screen name resembles that of somebody who disagrees with them about MSFT's prospects. Anyway, I sincerely doubt that the R&D and design work is factored into the per-machine costs, since as NRE it cannot be figured per machine. After all, what percentage of the cost of developing Windows CE should be applied to XBox's NRE? How about the DirectX game development libraries? How about the purchase price of Bungie? How about the lost revenue due to cancelling the Macintosh versions of the Bungie games that were under development? By the way, if you decide to purchase MSFT shares, I recommend against doing so on the basis of XBox's potential. Even if hell freezes over and MSFT rapidly monopolizes the game market, killing PlayStation and Nintendo, that would only allow MSFT to justify its generous P/E for another year or two. Also, consider that when they lose $150/machine, they need to sell an average of ten games at $15/copy royalty just to break even, not counting development or marketing. Now since the xbox sells for ~400, is this b/c the "guts" cost 550? No, the build cost would be lower. Remember, MSFT doesn't sell XBox to distributors and discounters for $400. It's probably closer to $240-280 (at 30-40 points discount). So adding that $150/box, the cost of goods is probably around $390-430. Dave

To: Dave who wrote (63236)	11/23/2001 3:33:04 PM
From: DiViT	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 74651

Analsyts and fools are estimating the costs and the so called $150 loss per box. Nobody really knows. I expect there is some loss per box but I suspect it's can be offset by the margins on a couple of games.

To: Dave who wrote (63236)	11/23/2001 5:16:18 PM
From: ericneu	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74651

Now since the xbox sells for ~400, is this b/c the "guts" cost 550? Is the 150/machine loss factoring in the R&D and design work MSFT had to do? --- Retail price of an Xbox is $299. From the FAQ at xbox.com : What is the price? The Xbox video game system has a suggested retail price of $299.00 USD. Retailers determine their own price for Xbox, and may choose to sell the Xbox video game system bundled with additional games and peripherals. Check with your local video game retailers for information on pricing and bundle options. - Eric