According to Pachter, ”If I were a betting man (and I am), I would say a spring 2014 launch makes more sense, since hard core Xbots could get a console without having to compete with moms buying gifts at holiday, and it is likely that they won’t manufacture more than a few million units for launch.”
His declaration isn’t as off base as some would believe. While the Xbox 360 was launched in November 2005, the console didn’t start to take off til the Spring of the next year.
He also went on to claim that the next Xbox will function as much as a cable TV box as a gaming system. ”It’s pretty clear to me that Microsoft intends to allow the Xbox 720 to function as a cable TV box, allowing cable television service providers to broadcast over the Internet through the box, with SmartGlass as the remote controller, and with the Xbox 720 using Windows 8 to split the TV signal into multiple feeds, allowing consumers to divert different channel feeds to different displays within the home,” he reasoned.
The Xbox 720, which many think is codenamed “Durango”, was a no-show at E3 2012.