"Kinect is essential to Xbox One", for exactly six months
Microsoft unbundled Kinect and cut the Xbox One price after insisting it was inseparable
One of only 22 things they have ever fully walked back.
The market's verdict: -0.6% on MSFT in the week after.
What actually happened
At the May 2013 reveal, Kinect was "essential to the Xbox One experience" and "as fundamental to the platform as the controller", which is how Microsoft justified the 499 dollar price and the always-listening sensor. On May 13, 2014, eight months after launch, Microsoft announced a 399 dollar Kinect-free Xbox One, citing data that even while calling it essential. The peripheral never recovered: developers dropped support within the year, and the sensor itself was discontinued in 2017. The fastest demotion of a "fundamental" component in the company's history, executed with a straight face.
This one is officially acknowledged.
They did it more than once
Unbundled in 2014, discontinued in 2017, stranded by a cable in 2018. A three-act retirement.
Links
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Acknowledgement
- Xbox Wire (Microsoft) (official)
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Impact
- Ars Technica (publication)
↳ caused by Kinect-free Xbox One announcement (May 2014)
Timeline
- May 13, 2014 Announced Microsoft announced it.
- Jun 9, 2014 Walked back Kinect-free SKU went on sale June 9, 2014.