For the past few years, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT ) has vowed not to give Sony Corp. (SNE ) a head start in the next generation of video game consoles. It's a lesson Microsoft learned the hard way. Sony's PlayStation 2 had a 20-month jump on Microsoft's Xbox, which launched in November, 2001, and rode that lead to a 69% market share. Microsoft started work on the next version of Xbox right after the original shipped, to be ready when the next console cycle began. Said Microsoft's Xbox boss, Robert J. Bach, in a recent interview: "We'll be there when Sony is there."
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