Memo To Microsoft: Spin Off Xbox

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) launched its first Xbox video game console in 2001. From there, the Xbox may have emerged as the lone popular culture hit in a Microsoft lineup that grew to include the relatively ill-fated Windows 8 and Windows Phone releases. The gaming console industry has evolved into a winner-take-all duopoly pitting the Xbox against Sony's (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation platform. Nominal sales and popular culture success, of course, do not necessarily translate into profitability.