Is This How Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Beats Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) and Apple Inc. (AAPL)?

However, just as Hastings has gone on to show up at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) product launches — and rightfully so given the popularity of Netflix apps on Apple’s high-end gadgetry screens — Microsoft has also embraced Netflix’s competition. Xbox systems now play nice with some cable partners, and just last week Microsoft announced support for Netflix’s rival Redbox Instant by Verizon service.

Microsoft has a shot here.

Mr. Softy has been falling short to Apple and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the important battle for mobile operating system supremacy, but it has its Xbox army to unleash in the television world, where its rivals have sputtered.

Google has flopped so far with its Google TV smart television platform. Apple continues to gain ground with every Apple TV generation, but Microsoft already has tens of millions of TV buffs using their Xbox systems to consume video.

The Xbox is a Trojan horse
This could very well be Microsoft’s crowning achievement. Cable networks and broadcasters don’t fear Microsoft as a disruptor. They’re too busy fretting about Netflix leading the cord-cutting revolution and the eventuality that Apple will introduce a full-blown high-def TV that may make traditional cable and satellite television subscriptions a thing of the past.

Microsoft is seen as an old-school chum that the industry can trust.

It’s a brilliant plan.

Maybe traditional video games will bounce back. Maybe they won’t. Either way, Microsoft is amassing a growing audience of consumers who are learning to turn on their Xbox systems when they crave entertainment.

Microsoft may finally have a new calling: Mr. Softy’s going to be a TV star.

The article Is This How Microsoft Beats Netflix and Apple? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Rick Aristotle Munarriz.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Aristotle Munarriz owns shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Apple, Google, and Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Netflix.

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