????今年對(duì)微軟公司（Microsoft）來(lái)說(shuō)是重拳出擊之年,。公司計(jì)劃推出Windows 8，這是微軟操作系統(tǒng)的徹底升級(jí)版,。今年晚些時(shí)候,，微軟還會(huì)推出自己打造的平板電腦，與iPad一較高下,。全新版的Office套件也即將全線(xiàn)出擊,。從近期的情況來(lái)看，微軟公司可謂順風(fēng)順?biāo)?，形?shì)喜人,。截至今年6月30日的微軟上一財(cái)年中，其商用部門(mén)（Business Division）的營(yíng)業(yè)收入占總營(yíng)收一半還多,，為157億美元,。同期，Windows和Windows Live這兩款產(chǎn)品帶來(lái)了115億美元的收入,。去年全年,，微軟的利潤(rùn)達(dá)到了170億美元。從今年年初以來(lái),，長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)萎靡不振的微軟股價(jià)也上漲了13%。

????但是,，微軟仍然面臨重重問(wèn)題,。微軟在規(guī)模巨大的在線(xiàn)廣告業(yè)中所占的份額依然微不足道,。而在對(duì)未來(lái)至關(guān)重要的云行業(yè)中，群雄逐鹿之勢(shì)正愈演愈烈,。企業(yè)辦公應(yīng)用套件（Apps for Business）是谷歌公司（Google）基于云而推出的應(yīng)用程序,，旨在提高辦公效率。目前有三分之一的企業(yè)都采用了它,，而不是微軟的產(chǎn)品Office 365,。最近，市場(chǎng)研究公司Global Equities Research的分析師特里普?喬杜里對(duì)《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》（The Wall Street Journal ）表示：在極為關(guān)鍵的移動(dòng)領(lǐng)域,，微軟可謂無(wú)聲無(wú)息,。他說(shuō)：“只有不到2%的智能手機(jī)采用了Windows系統(tǒng)，搭載Windows的平板電腦幾乎沒(méi)有,?？蛻?hù)接受度很低，這可不是個(gè)小問(wèn)題,?！?/p>

????不過(guò)，微軟內(nèi)部有一位尖兵正蓄勢(shì)待發(fā),，它就是Xbox 360,。微軟的娛樂(lè)和設(shè)備部門(mén)（Entertainment and Devices Division）的收入約為商用部門(mén)的40%。鑒于Xbox 360是微軟如今業(yè)務(wù)版圖上很小的一塊,，一般人可能會(huì)認(rèn)為它不會(huì)有多重要,。而實(shí)際上，Xbox 360已經(jīng)悄無(wú)聲息地成為游戲終端業(yè)里統(tǒng)御天下的力量,，地位如日中天,。

????上個(gè)月微軟宣布，6月份它在美國(guó)市場(chǎng)售出了257,000臺(tái)Xbox 360,，占據(jù)美國(guó)游戲機(jī)市場(chǎng)47%的份額,。Xbox 360的銷(xiāo)售已連續(xù)18個(gè)月領(lǐng)先各大品牌，并連續(xù)16個(gè)月占據(jù)超過(guò)40%的市場(chǎng)份額,。微軟稱(chēng),，消費(fèi)者6月份在Xbox 360上的花銷(xiāo)達(dá)到2.72億美元。對(duì)一臺(tái)大概7年前就已經(jīng)推出的產(chǎn)品來(lái)說(shuō),，這個(gè)成績(jī)單實(shí)在可圈可點(diǎn),。上個(gè)月，在一份致投資者的信中,，摩根大通銀行（J.P. Morgan）的分析師約翰?迪福奇寫(xiě)道：“盡管Xbox的財(cái)務(wù)表現(xiàn)對(duì)微軟而言仍顯得無(wú)足輕重,，但它的業(yè)務(wù)持續(xù)表現(xiàn)出可觀的銷(xiāo)量，較高的軟件搭售率，以及強(qiáng)勁的收入增長(zhǎng),。由于這一業(yè)務(wù)在投資者心目中的高調(diào)形象,，相關(guān)新聞報(bào)道可能起到催化劑的作用?！?/p>

????不過(guò)Xbox 360對(duì)微軟的重要性絕不僅限于游戲終端的銷(xiāo)售而已,。Xbox 360正走向產(chǎn)品生命周期的盡頭，在此期間,，年同比銷(xiāo)量下降了35%,。然而，在第四財(cái)季中,，相關(guān)軟件和服務(wù)則推動(dòng)娛樂(lè)部門(mén)的收入增長(zhǎng)了12%,。

????對(duì)微軟來(lái)說(shuō)足夠幸運(yùn)的是，它似乎能從這些軟件和服務(wù)的銷(xiāo)售中獲得持續(xù)增長(zhǎng),。Xbox 360的游戲庫(kù)極為龐大,，同時(shí)微軟還對(duì)Xbox Live加倍投入，將這款廣受歡迎的游戲終端變?yōu)槿藗兛蛷d里的媒體中心,，供用戶(hù)觀看流媒體視頻,，下載視頻游戲。

????市場(chǎng)研究機(jī)構(gòu)DFC Intelligence公司近期在一份研究中披露,，到2017年,，游戲終端游戲總收入的39%將來(lái)自通過(guò)網(wǎng)絡(luò)交付的各類(lèi)發(fā)行平臺(tái)及其他基于網(wǎng)絡(luò)的來(lái)源。DFC相信,，游戲業(yè)的總收入將有望從今年的670億美元增長(zhǎng)到2017年的820億美元,。換言之，屆時(shí)將有近320億美元的收入歸游戲終端依托于網(wǎng)絡(luò)提供的各項(xiàng)服務(wù),。

????這對(duì)微軟而言將是個(gè)絕好的機(jī)會(huì),。2010年曾有預(yù)測(cè)稱(chēng)，Xbox Live的收入將達(dá)到10億美元左右,。自此之后,，微軟早已經(jīng)售出了比這一預(yù)測(cè)多得多的游戲終端。而據(jù)市場(chǎng)研究公司Kantar Worldpanel稱(chēng),，微軟游戲終端11%的用戶(hù)——約700萬(wàn)人——通過(guò)Xbox Live購(gòu)買(mǎi)產(chǎn)品,。據(jù)微軟稱(chēng)，去年Xbox Live的會(huì)員總數(shù)增長(zhǎng)了15%,。在未來(lái)幾年間,，這一增長(zhǎng)很可能將勢(shì)頭不減。

????而微軟就等著坐收現(xiàn)錢(qián),，大發(fā)利市了,。

????微軟首席財(cái)務(wù)官彼得?克萊恩在4月舉行的業(yè)績(jī)發(fā)布電話(huà)會(huì)議（earnings call）上發(fā)表講話(huà)稱(chēng)：“Xbox Live及所有與之相伴的娛樂(lè)內(nèi)容”都被微軟總部視為“長(zhǎng)期可持續(xù)的收入來(lái)源,，無(wú)論是從訂閱用戶(hù)的角度看，還是從促進(jìn)交易的角度看都是如此,?！贝送猓€補(bǔ)充說(shuō)：“看看訂閱用戶(hù)的參與程度就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn),，相比較游戲時(shí)間，他們用于娛樂(lè)的時(shí)間一直在增長(zhǎng),。因此我認(rèn)為,，Xbox Live所采用的戰(zhàn)略和價(jià)值主張?jiān)谖磥?lái)數(shù)年中依然會(huì)表現(xiàn)得很出色?！?/p>

????要想和Windows或Office的收入看齊,，Xbox及其相關(guān)服務(wù)當(dāng)然還任重道遠(yuǎn)。但整個(gè)世界正向全數(shù)字化娛樂(lè)模式發(fā)展,。顯然微軟對(duì)此心知肚明——而且正在悶聲發(fā)大財(cái),。

????譯者：清遠(yuǎn)

????This is a big year for Microsoft. The company plans to launch Windows 8, a complete overhaul of its signature operating system, later this year as well as its own, home-grown tablet competitor to the iPad. A new version of Office is also in the works.

????Lately, things have been pretty good in Redmond. During Microsoft's (MSFT) last fiscal year, ended June 30, its Business Division accounted for over half of its operating income, generating $15.7 billion. Windows and Windows Live, meanwhile, came in at $11.5 billion. The company generated a $17 billion profit during its last fiscal year. Microsoft's long-languishing stock price is up 13% since the beginning of the year.

????Still, Microsoft has plenty of issues. It has a small presence in the massive online advertising industry, and the cloud, which is vastly important to its future, is up for grabs. One in three companies is adopting Google (GOOG) Apps for Business, the search giant's cloud-based office-productivity suite, rather than Microsoft's alternative, Office 365. And as Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry told The Wall Street Journal recently, Microsoft's presence in the crucial mobile space is practically non-existent. "Less than 2% of smartphones are Windows devices and no tablets are Windows devices yet, which is troubling from a customer adoption perspective," he said.

????There is a white knight inside Microsoft: the Xbox 360. Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division generates about 40% of the revenue of the Business Division. Considering the Xbox 360 is such a small part of Microsoft's operation today, you might think it can't possibly be so important. However, the Xbox 360 has quietly become a dominant force in the console business, making it awfully important.

????Microsoft announced last month that it sold 257,000 Xbox 360 units in the U.S. in June, earning it 47% share of the U.S. console market. The console led the way in total sales for the 18th month in a row, and held over 40% share for the 16th-consecutive month. Microsoft said that total consumer spending on the Xbox 360 in June hit $272 million. Not bad for a device that launched nearly seven years ago.

????"The company's Xbox business continues to show solid unit volume, attach rate, and revenue growth performance, though the financial impact to Microsoft remains inconsequential," J.P. Morgan analyst John DiFucci wrote in a note to investors last month. "However, the high-profile of this business in investors' minds may create catalysts from news events from this business line."

????But the Xbox 360's importance to Microsoft goes beyond console sales. The Xbox 360 is coming to the end of its life cycle, and year-over-year unit sales were down 35% during the period. Software and services, however, drove the entire entertainment division to a 12% revenue gain in the fourth quarter.

????Luckily for Microsoft, it appears poised to continue to derive its growth from those software and services. The console's game library is extremely deep and Microsoft has doubled down on Xbox Live, turning its popular console into a viable living room media hub for those looking to stream video and download video games.

????Market researcher DFC Intelligence revealed in a study recently that by 2017, 39% of all console game revenue will come byway of Internet-delivered distribution platforms and other Web-based sources. DFC believes that the gaming business will see revenue soar from $67 billion this year to $82 billion in 2017. In other words, nearly $32 billion will go to the console space's Web-based services that year.

????That's a major opportunity for Microsoft. Back in 2010, it was estimated that Xbox Live generated about $1 billion in revenue. Since then, Microsoft has sold boatloads more consoles and according to Kantar Worldpanel, 11% of the company's console owners, or about 7 million, have made purchases through Xbox Live. Xbox Live membership was up 15% in the last fiscal year, according to Microsoft. That growth is more than likely to continue in the coming years.

????And Microsoft is getting ready to cash in.

????Speaking during his company's earnings call in April, Microsoft CFO Peter Klein said that "Xbox Live and all the entertainment content that comes with that" is viewed by Redmond "as a persistent long-term revenue stream, both from a subscriber perspective as well as a transactional perspective. "If you look at the engagement that our subscribers have, the amount of time they spend doing entertainment as opposed to gaming is increasing all the time," Klein continued. "And so I think the strategy and the value proposition there plays out very well over the next several years."

????The Xbox and its associated services have a long way to go to match Windows or Office in overall revenue, but the world is moving towards an all-digital entertainment model. Turns out Microsoft knows it -- and it's quietly capitalizing.