Desperation sets in-Xbox lowers their price again
 

http://tech.msn.com/products/article...3777&gt1=40000


Xbox 360 to be Lowest-Priced Next-Gen Video Game Console
By Daniel Terdiman, CNET News.com
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One of the biggest selling points of Nintendo's Wii video game console since its launch nearly two years ago has been that it was the lowest-priced of the trio of next-generation machines, which also includes Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.
(© CNET)

To date, the Wii costs $249, while the lowest-priced Xbox, the so-called "Arcade," retails currently for $279. An 80GB PS3 sells for $400.

But Microsoft said Wednesday that it will drop the price of the Arcade on Friday to $199, breaking through what some have said is the all-important psychological price level of $200. At that price, industry observers say, the market opens up to mass levels of consumers.

Microsoft will also drop the price of its 60GB Xbox to $299 and its "Xbox Elite," which has a 120GB hard drive, to $399.

"The fact that the Xbox 360 is now cheaper than the Wii is definitely a big shift in the market," said Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360.

"I'm not at a point where I can say we're going to beat Nintendo," Mattrick told BusinessWeek. "We will sell more consoles this generation than Sony."

Of course, some have said that the appeal of the Xbox, despite being the first to hit 10 million units sold in North America, is still limited and that over the next few years, the PS3 will eventually catch up to and surpass the Xbox.

Until now, Nintendo has shown little interest in lowering the price of the Wii, and thus its profit margin. And while Sony has effectively lowered the price of the PS3 by offering only an 80GB version for the same price as what was previously a less-powerful version, it has little room to maneuver on price given that it is still subsidizing the PS3 at its current level.

By comparison, because the Xbox has been out a full year longer than both the Wii and the PS3, it has already achieved efficiencies of scale that have allowed it to slowly lower the Xbox's price.

To date, the 60GB Xbox has done about 60 percent of total Xbox 360 sales, said Greenberg, with the Arcade and Elite models each accounting for about 20 percent.

But with the Arcade's price dropping below $200, Greenberg said he thinks that model is "now picking up steam."

"Over 75 percent of all console sales historically were sold below $200," Greenberg said. "We know that there's tens of millions of PS2 owners who bought their systems when (the PS2) hit $199."

In other words, Microsoft is hoping that at $199, the Arcade can become the next PS2 and sell well over 100 million units.

Lot of good it'l do them.

Its been out alot longer then the PS3 and the PS3 has dropped a few times already i believe. MS should have dropped the price when GTAIV came out. 199 is a damned good price. I am thinking of getting me a bigger hard drive. I may end up buying my nephew a xbox arcade giving him my hard drive and me getting a new one.

Has the PS3 dropped?? Adding another SKU doesn't count.

same difference cutting out some features to be cheaper for the consumer

This really hurt Sony with the PS2 when they dropped the price below $200 three years after release.

Unmitigated disaster, that.

Isn't the Arcade version gutted so much that it doesn't even have a hard drive? So essentially the 360 for practical use is $300?

This thread header reads like some damn political news headline. Something big but then you read the actual article and realize there is nothing really to see here.

I think it comes with the console, a game, a controller, and a memory card rather than a hard drive.

Which sucks. You really need a HD with these next gen consoles.

I wonder if you have to have the Xbox HD or if you can use an external USB HD. Anyone know?

I've honestly never looked....can you purchase just the Xbox HD?

It's a 100 bucks, a 360 stand alone hard drive buy is 100 bucks.

Of course I paid that for my online wireless adapter so they're making their money.

Does anyone know if they are coming out with a blue ray adapter?

Has to be the official xbox hdd :(

Keep in mind though that the PS3 is already sudsidizing their cost on the machine. I'm not sure if Xbox is or not, but it's clear that Sony has a higher quality console. The RRoD issues aside, it just costs a lot more to make. I don't understand how anyone could think it's not a superior system. That said, at 199 I'll probably be picking up an Xbox now so I can play the exclusive games I've been missing out on.