Xbox 360 Price Cut In Limbo
- Scribbled on August 19th, 2009 by Jordan Lund
- Filed in Industry News, Microsoft Xbox 360
Before Sony finally made their PS3 Slim announcement, the other big price cut news was a trimming of the Xbox 360 family tree. Currently Microsoft posts three different 360 SKUs: the hard-driveless “Arcade” at $199, the 60 GB equipped “Pro” at $299 and the “Elite” at $399, packing a 120 GB hard drive.
Microsoft has shown absolutely no intent of getting rid of the low end model, preferring that folks who don’t download things or perhaps have no intention of taking the 360 online at all have an inexpensive entry into high end gaming. Similarly, they don’t wish to alienate hard core gamers who prefer the biggest and baddest systems available. So where does that leave the “Pro”? The rumor HAD BEEN that Microsoft was planning on lowering the axe on the Pro and cutting the price of the Elite unit to $300, which would seem to make sense given the state of the Playstation 3 Slim. You don’t suddenly want to be caught with the most expensive machine on the block.
But hang on a second here: while some are still reporting an imminent price cut within the week, and in store displays seem to indicate a price cut on August 30, MCV points out that there is still an awful lot of stock in the supply channel, stock that would have to be cleared out before the Pro could be eliminated.
These kinds of price cuts are always a double edged sword. Sony, really, should have made the Slim announcement back at E3, but with the howls from publishers demanding that they cut the price, it would have made it seem as though they were bowing to external pressure rather than making a normal time of life price cut.
Microsoft, in the face of the PS3 Slim announcement, can’t cut their own prices too soon for fear of being seen as a “Me too! Me too!” follower to Sony’s lead. Nintendo seems satisfied with outselling both machines at a price that’s half way between the low end 360 and the PS3 Slim.
I’d expect that we’ll see some combination of price reduction or value package well in time for the back to school/holiday shopping seasons.
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