AfterDawn: News

Microsoft: Xbox 360 price drop unnecessary for now

Microsoft Corp. has revealed that it has no plans to respond to Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3) price cut with cuts for its Xbox 360 console. Ever since Sony dropped $100 from the price of the 60GB version of the PS3 in the United States on Monday, rumors have been rampant that Microsoft will follow suit and drop its own console prices. The new $500 price for the PS3 is just $20 more than the Xbox 360 Elite price.

However, Microsoft won't reduce prices because it firmly believes there is no need to. The company is confident in the line-up of Xbox 360 game titles compared to the line-up for the PS3 for the rest of the year, and believes consumers have more incentive to buy an Xbox 360 from the games coming for the platform.



"We have no desire, no need, to react to anything the competition has done," Shane Kim, head of Microsoft Games Studios. "We feel really great about the Xbox 360 momentum right now. Customers are voting with their wallets, it's not just about console units. We feel great about how we're doing."

He denied that the defiance to lower prices for now is related to the company's intention to make the Xbox business profitable in its 2008 fiscal year. "It's really not about meeting the profitability goals. We feel very confident that we'll meet the profit goals with our strategy that is already in place," Kim said.

He pointed to forthcoming hit titles like Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto 4 and Madden NLF 08 (both of which will be available for both Xbox 360 and PS3) as the reason why Microsoft is confident that the available games will be incentive to outperform its rival in hardware sales. The company ill offer a Halo 3 edition of the Xbox 360 console. "This year, that perfect storm arrives again," Kim said. "And the Xbox 360 is the only platform you'll be able to play all three of those titles on."

Source:
Reuters

Written by: James Delahunty @ 11 Jul 2007 4:29

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• 23 comments

• 26r0cK

  "And the Xbox 360 is the only platform you'll be able to play all three of those titles on."
  
  ...im sure GTA4 and Madden NFL 08 are multiplatform.

  11.7.2007 04:43 #1

• peakskilz

  Thought that too at first but I think they mean collectively

  11.7.2007 05:14 #2

• DoomLight

  PS3 needs the price drop. but half a grand is still alot for many people. the Elite is still expensive to me. but at least the 360 can be had for 400 and 300 so it will prevail.
  
  i can't imagine buying a PS3 for Madden and GTA when it will look just as good on or better on 360.
  
  its all good.

  11.7.2007 05:20 #3

• dolemitsu

  Yeah, I just couldn't deal with the buyers' remorse over sinking about $540 (after tax) into a console when a high-end pc, 3rd party notebook, or a months rent could be paid w/that amount. It seems that I see pleny of ps3s and wiis being sold left and right on craigslist and the such - but not many 360s. That should say something right there.

  11.7.2007 05:35 #4

• Iguana775

  Originally posted by dolemitsu:Yeah, I just couldn't deal with the buyers' remorse over sinking about $540 (after tax) into a console when a high-end pc, 3rd party notebook, or a months rent could be paid w/that amount. It seems that I see pleny of ps3s and wiis being sold left and right on craigslist and the such - but not many 360s. That should say something right there.yea that most of them have died. :)

  11.7.2007 06:27 #5

• bhetrick

  Originally posted by 26r0cK:"And the Xbox 360 is the only platform you'll be able to play all three of those titles on."
  
  ...im sure GTA4 and Madden NFL 08 are multiplatform.Yep, but not until '08. This holiday season it'll only be for the 360. And that's when they sell the most.
  
  Quote:"This year, that perfect storm arrives again," Kim said. "And the Xbox 360 is the only platform you'll be able to play all three of those titles on."

  11.7.2007 06:27 #6

• pcanisius

  plus there is the totally awesome Halo 3 edition that has super green powers that they showed at E3.
  
  ...wait so its green? does it do anything special? o. it doesn't. hmm. i dont know.
  
  on second thought give me three.
  
  ---------
  
  do they expect people to go nuts over this? i mean sure its fantasitcally green but the major halo fans probably already have an x-box. o well. i'm not buying any next gen system anyways till it can also serve me toast. (but i guess the x-box comes close)

  11.7.2007 06:34 #7

• SProdigy

  Quote:Originally posted by dolemitsu:Yeah, I just couldn't deal with the buyers' remorse over sinking about $540 (after tax) into a console when a high-end pc, 3rd party notebook, or a months rent could be paid w/that amount. It seems that I see pleny of ps3s and wiis being sold left and right on craigslist and the such - but not many 360s. That should say something right there.yea that most of them have died. :)No, I'm pretty sure it's because the 360 has been out longer and that they've sold more units than Sony and Nintendo. Remember, the 360 was hard to find when it launched almost 2 years ago, and I'm not sure about everyone else, but I still have yet to see a Wii collecting dust on retail shelves.

  11.7.2007 06:41 #8

• hughjars

  The Xbox will get a price-drop but it looks like thy'll hang on for a couple of months until the 65nm CPU & 65nm GPU version appears.
  
  The 80gb PS3 is still $600 so I suppose they don't feel the Elite is placed too badly, I expect the rumour I heard a little while ago will be close to the truth -
  
  Industry analysts are predicting that Microsoft will counter the $100 PS3 price drop with $80 off Elite, $50 off Premium, probably when the new 360 65 micron motherboard (codename Falcon) is released this autumn. A shortage of components is holding back the chipset release.

  11.7.2007 07:14 #9

• ZippyDSM

  MS dose not need a price drop right now,it would be nice tho,in November a drop of 100 across the board would be devastating to sony,they might then be forced to drop the PS3 to the 400 price point they should have configured the PS3 to to start with,....oh wait their making a 80GB unit never mind they want to destroy the brand...
  
  MS should at the least drop the premium price to 299,I dont want a core or a elite unless they add more crap to the elite then maybe I would go for it.

  11.7.2007 08:02 #10

• emugamer

  Originally posted by hughjars:The Xbox will get a price-drop but it looks like thy'll hang on for a couple of months until the 65nm CPU & 65nm GPU version appears.
  
  The 80gb PS3 is still $600 so I suppose they don't feel the Elite is placed too badly, I expect the rumour I heard a little while ago will be close to the truth -
  
  Industry analysts are predicting that Microsoft will counter the $100 PS3 price drop with $80 off Elite, $50 off Premium, probably when the new 360 65 micron motherboard (codename Falcon) is released this autumn. A shortage of components is holding back the chipset release.It doesn't make sense for them to not have a price drop soon. This fall, the 65nm chip will be released, and from what they have said, it not only produces less heat, but costs half as much to produce. Sony claimed that they have caught up to their production costs and would like to pass the savings on to the customer. With a public statement like that (true or not), the smart thing for MS to do is to also pass on the savings of a cheaper chip to the customer....and announce it just as Sony did.

  11.7.2007 08:06 #11

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:Originally posted by hughjars:The Xbox will get a price-drop but it looks like thy'll hang on for a couple of months until the 65nm CPU & 65nm GPU version appears.
  
  The 80gb PS3 is still $600 so I suppose they don't feel the Elite is placed too badly, I expect the rumour I heard a little while ago will be close to the truth -
  
  Industry analysts are predicting that Microsoft will counter the $100 PS3 price drop with $80 off Elite, $50 off Premium, probably when the new 360 65 micron motherboard (codename Falcon) is released this autumn. A shortage of components is holding back the chipset release.It doesn't make sense for them to not have a price drop soon. This fall, the 65nm chip will be released, and from what they have said, it not only produces less heat, but costs half as much to produce. Sony claimed that they have caught up to their production costs and would like to pass the savings on to the customer. With a public statement like that (true or not), the smart thing for MS to do is to also pass on the savings of a cheaper chip to the customer....and announce it just as Sony did.
  ========================================
  ====================
  ========
  
  With the rumors around,I think there will be a 100$ price drop on the 360 (all 3 versions) sometime between now and Xmas

  11.7.2007 08:14 #12

• krj15489

  hopefully a price drop for the 360 and 65nm chips will come before Halo 3. my xbox broke and now im just waiting for a good time to buy a new one.

  11.7.2007 11:19 #13

• SProdigy

  And while everyone is still hanging in the $300-$400 price range, the Wii will finally be available, and people still won't buy a PS3!
  
  Actually, the sleeping giant in the price war is the current leader, Nintendo, who is playing possum, silently shipping thousands of units monthly and selling out. When Sony and MS have all of their price cuts, the Big N may have Mario and Metroid out the door PLUS drop their price tag $50-$100 and really put the pressure on their competitors.

  11.7.2007 12:25 #14

• emugamer

  Originally posted by SProdigy:.......PLUS drop their price tag $50-$100 and really put the pressure on their competitors.That would be amazing, and yet make no sense at all. Nintendo has absolutely no need to cut their price. Their system will always be the cheaper one, because MS will never get the 360 that low, no matter what configuration. Low cost an innovation are proving to be the winning combination for success.

  11.7.2007 18:22 #15

• ChromeMud

  It is bad business to announce price drops as it means no-one buys
  your product in the meantime so everybody...chill.
  This is the way of the corporate world so get a grip knowing the
  fact that price drops are inevitable,history has proved this and
  it isn't going to change here.

  12.7.2007 04:32 #16

• borhan9

  Well if they are confident in their product they will have to wait and see how it performs.

  17.7.2007 01:49 #17

• ZippyDSM

  Umm its been out for 3 years so ya a price drop is coming,and now that all the systems are out, price points will be lowered, it starts before summer (kids on vacation from school) and before Xmas (parental bankruptcy day LOL).

  17.7.2007 05:05 #18

• Gnawnivek

  For someone who wants the X360 to be able to play HD-DVDs, the price is higher than the PS3... I just want a X360 plays HD-DVDs without the add-on. I'm willing to pay $600 for it, any word when that's gonna be available?

  19.7.2007 08:17 #19

• thegrunt

  Originally posted by Gnawnivek: For someone who wants the X360 to be able to play HD-DVDs, the price is higher than the PS3... I just want a X360 plays HD-DVDs without the add-on. I'm willing to pay $600 for it, any word when that's gonna be available?
  Never will happen....
  

  
  

  19.7.2007 08:37 #20

• ChromeMud

  I'd rather buy a standalone for films and a console for games.
  Compromises are always made when they do both and if you are going the HD route then who wants to compromise?

  19.7.2007 08:41 #21

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by thegrunt: Originally posted by Gnawnivek: For someone who wants the X360 to be able to play HD-DVDs, the price is higher than the PS3... I just want a X360 plays HD-DVDs without the add-on. I'm willing to pay $600 for it, any word when that's gonna be available?
  Never will happen....I can still see MS putting in the Hdvd drive in the elite when the drive them selfs are under 200,but that wont be for 2 or 3 more years.
  

  
  
  FIGHT THE M.A.F.I.A.A.
  

  19.7.2007 08:43 #22

• ZippyDSM

  I dunno Sony seems to be doing a good job on upgrading the firmware to more features on the PS3, I will ignore the BR bits but the DVD upscaling seems nice.
  
  the 360s Hdvd add on is not great not bad but not great either.
  
  Really if you want to jump into BR/HDVD wait another 8 months for the dual players to come out.
  

  
  
  FIGHT THE M.A.F.I.A.A.
  

  19.7.2007 08:47 #23