Microsoft considering 360 price cut
Wow, I guess Microsoft did hear the cries for a 360 price drop. Microsoft's David Hufford (a group product manager) had this to say to Bloomberg.
"We are well aware that the sweet spot of the market is really 199 bucks,"
"When Mom walks into the store and sees she can get a console with a game for USD 250, she sees it as a USD 300 value. They've done a good job."
Peter Moore chipped in with his own two cents on the subject:
"If we don't make that move, make it early and expand our demographic, we will wind up in the same place as with Xbox 1, a solid business with 25 million people," commented Xbox boss Peter Moore.
"What I need is a solid business with 90 million people."
The way I see it, the Xbox 360 already is a "hardcore" gaming machine targeted mainly at adults. The 360 doesn't really do much in the way of making casual games more diverse or interesting - I think it's safe to agree that the Wii and DS have that position secured.
However, a price drop would still be welcome by many, and would definitely boost sales if initiated around Christmas time, or even around the Halo 3 release.
[Via GamesIndustry.biz]
4 comments:
Well the 360 is still selling roughly the same number of consoles now as they did pre-PS3 launch. So Sony is not eating into their market share. MS are also turning a profit on the hardware.
I honestly expected a cheaper, $250 version to be released at the time of the Elite but hey if there is no pressure then why bother with that right now.
The ball seems most definitely in Sony's court. Given time, a hardware sales slump might force MS to drop the price but with Halo3 and GTAIV on the horizon I don't see that happening soon. 2008 could be the year a lot of this gets turned on its head and things will most certainly begin hotting up as the excuses wear thin on all sides and the gloves come off.
Yea, but the question is, how many people are going to go out and buy an Xbox 360 just for Halo 3 and GTA IV? In my opinion, the people who already own the system are going to be the ones buying those games.
People who don't own 360s probably don't own one because the current line-up of games don't appeal to them or they can't afford the system. Either way, if neither changes significantly by the time Halo releases, I don't know how much of a boost the game will provide the console.
I think Halo and GTA also have an ability to reach into that rich pool of gamers that the 360 and PS3 have yet to appeal too. They're both "Connects", they engage the old PS2/xbox markets with a familiarity, a helping hand to step into the next gen.
The charts show many people are still happy with their PS2s but this could be the slap around the face that makes them realise they are actually missing out on something new. That perhaps they're not "okay with the console I've got".
Honestly, I think MS are maximising their profit while they can. If pushed I'm confident they hit that $250 if not $200 price point tomorrow. While they have some good hands (and frankly their H2 lineup is pretty fucking good)to play I think they'll be keeping that ace up their sleeve.
Actually, crawling over the vgchartz (excellent site) website I see the Wii is looking to be a couple months off of catching the 360. This toppling from the number one spot might put the willies up MS enough to get that price adjustment sooner rather than later.
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