The original Xbox lost money over its entire life. It wasn't until the second generation that Microsoft moved into positive territory on that. Hardware had to get cheaper before a PC in a game console case was profitable.
Except the 2nd generation (Xbox 360) was the only Xbox that wasn't x86. It featured a 3.2 GHz PowerPC Tri-Core Xenon CPU [1].
It was also Microsoft's highest selling console ever [2]. Note that the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 each individually outsold it though. As a result, Microsoft has never outsold Sony with an x86 PC-like console, despite trying multiple times.
Ironically, recent PlayStation consoles have been x86. Maybe Microsoft kind of won in the end? It still doesn't run Windows through, so maybe Microsoft was right from the start?
It was also Microsoft's highest selling console ever [2]. Note that the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 each individually outsold it though. As a result, Microsoft has never outsold Sony with an x86 PC-like console, despite trying multiple times.
Ironically, recent PlayStation consoles have been x86. Maybe Microsoft kind of won in the end? It still doesn't run Windows through, so maybe Microsoft was right from the start?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_cons...