Microsoft may have numbers to show for its newly released Xbox One console since releasing in as many as 13 markets in November, selling three million units worldwide, but the company knows that more profit was on the cards if not for the delay in launch in eight markets. However, Microsoft has apologized to its fans for the launch delays.
Speaking to OXM in a recent interview, Microsoft Studios boss Phil Spencer stated that it’s far more important to meet quality targets than releasing products on time.
"I wish we had the global coverage that we originally announced when we stood on stage at E3," Spencer stated when questioned about the worst aspect of the Xbox One's launch. "I stood on stage and talked about 21 markets... there were things around the voice models and other things we needed to make sure were right in order to really build a box that felt native to the markets we were shipping in.”
"It never feels good to stand on stage and talk about 21 markets and ship in 13, but it's a journey, and it's not won or lost the day after launch. It will be something that plays out, so making sure the quality of each market when we ship is the important part," he added.
The delay to the launch date, as revealed by Microsoft’s director of product strategy Albert Penello back in August last year, was necessary to make sure the Kinect voice localization was up to the mark.
"I think people are using the way [voice] works on Xbox 360, which was an accessory we built five years after release, as how it's going to work here," he told OXM back then.
"But it's so much more elegant and so much more integrated, and in many ways it's a lot faster and more convenient. Whereas on Xbox 360 it's a lesser version of doing the thing you're used to doing on your controller.”
“People assume there's a volume issue which in fact there isn't. You're actually seeing pre-orders pop back up now because we're able allocate the countries' volumes back in. It's there, the problem is localisation. And once people see the system and how integral it is, it's not just text integration," he added.
Microsoft’s Xbox One, as of now, has been delayed in eight territories in total – Russia, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark.