They will eventually. When the sales numbers come in they will want to drop the price to compete with PS4 as soon as possible. 

I could see it happening as early as E3 2014 (only 8 months away). MS will drop Kinect and price the re-branded Xbox One at $399 to compete with PS4. 

Mandatory Kinect was a mistake from the start. It caused the price of X1 to go up to $500. $100 more than PS4 which is the stronger console. It's the first time in gaming history that the more expensive console is significantly weaker, and it's all because of Kinect and Don Mattricks horrible vision for Xbox. MS put so much stock into Kinect, yet at the end of the day.... there are no games for Kinect. 

Sure it does voice commands and gesture commands. Big deal. PS4 camera even does voice commands. This is not new technology. It was around in the early 90s with clap-on/clap-off, and to most people it certainly isnt worth paying an extra $100 for. 

So what happens to all the early Xbox One adopters who get the system with Kinect? IMO They will get left behind. For most of this generation, Kinect will be no longer be mandatory... support will die off even more than it already is, and early X1 adopters will be left with a camera that never gets used for gaming. 

Too early to say. If the X1 does pretty well, (by which i mean reasonably close to the figures that the ps4 gets even if it doesnt beat it) they wont bother. Bear in mind that the X1 is being sold at a profit while the ps4 is borderline. Also US preorders see the X1 catching up to the ps4 which is good for MS, considering the $100 greater price tag.

Off topic: Define "significantly weaker" than the PS4, because most people within the biz are saying they are practically identical.

On topic: nothing happens to those who have it. Kinect continues to get features and support, even if they aren't used in games. A Kinectless SKU comes down the line whether X1 falls behind or not. First they get it into as many homes as possible with the early adopter/enthusiast crowd, then they introduce a cheaper SKU once the hype dies down.

I hope that will never happen! They already dropped so many of my favorite features of The Xbox One!

When Microsoft drops the Kinect, I get an Xbox One. That's what happens.

Hopefully it will be in time for Halo. If not, well, not even the Chief is worth buying a Kinect.

Clap on Clap off... The beginning of skynet

new price would be 250$.
i might consider buying one depending on the games then.

If it happens soon enough I'd have enough money (hopefully) to buy one.

They won't drop the Kinect. It makes no sense to say that they will.
If they lag behind with sales - they will drop price, of course. But they will never drop Kinect.

Nothing.

The trouble, I think, is that Microsoft seems to be trying to tie the Kinect in with the grand notion of a one-box-for-the-living-room. The only point I could envision that happening is if the system under-performs so severely that it shatters their faith in the concept behind the system. At that point, their options for trying to take the lead would be...limited, and of limited value.