UPDATE: Adding commentary concerning the meaning of "2005" by Microsof's CEO. Since the meeting with analysts was a financial one the company might mean fiscal, not calendar 2005 year. X-bit labs is trying to figure out the information with Microsoft.

Microsoft’s Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer told financial analysts Thursday that the company was not going to release its Xbox 2 console the following [possibly calendar] year denying numerous circulating rumours about possible launch of the console in [fiscal] 2005.

“There is no new Xbox in the next year, but, man, we are hard at work on that next Xbox; that is all we willl say. New Xbox Live creativity, "Halo 2", and again innovation fuels growth, innovation fuels growth. It is about as simple as that. People fuel innovation, innovation fuels growth and customer satisfaction, driving that hard, make sure that the wheel can come around and around and around and around and around.” Steve Ballmer said at a meeting with financial analysts, TeamXbox web-site reports.

It is not clear whether Ballmer meant fiscal or calendar 2005. Microsoft's fiscal 2005 ends on June 30, 2005.

Earlier this month a report at a web-site suggested that Microsoft would use its X04 event to announce the Xbox 2 console in mid-September, 2004, and CES or Game Developer Conference 2005 to show off a working model of the next-generation console presumably called Xbox 2. Previously some sources stated that Microsoft’s Xbox 2 will be out in late 2005, not in 2006, as the company targeted from the beginning of works on the next generation console.

Microsoft is reportedly going to dramatically change its strategy of getting logic components for its Xbox 2 console that is to be released on the middle of the decade. Instead of getting chips from its partners, Microsoft inked technology agreements with ATI for graphics technologies, IBM for microprocessors as well as SiS for I/O and multimedia technologies and is likely to manage chip manufacturing itself.