Microsoft CEO candidate Stephen Elop said to consider selling Xbox business, killing Bing
Bloomberg also suggests that Elop is willing to shut down or sell some major Microsoft businesses. Elop would reportedly considering killing off the company’s Bing search engine, while contemplating selling the Xbox business. Some investors and analysts have previously called for the software giant to split off its Xbox business and give up on search. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen appears to feel the same way. Allen’s $15 billion asset manager, Paul Ghaffari, revealed recently that Bing and Xbox have been distractions for Microsoft. "My view is there are some parts of that operation they should probably spin out, get rid of, to focus on the enterprise and focus on the cloud." Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund claims Microsoft’s financial earnings could be boosted by 40 percent in fiscal 2015 if the company sold its Bing and Xbox businesses.
Any sale of Bing or Xbox seems unlikely, despite continued suggestions over the years. Microsoft is moving to integrate its search engine experience directly into Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone, and the company is just weeks away from launching its next-generation Xbox One console. Bing also powers a number Xbox search and app features. Either way, Microsoft’s CEO search appears to be progressing with some suggesting the company may name a Ballmer successor by the end of the year.
