Microsoft recently dropped the price of the Xbox 360 Elite to $299.99. They also just ended a two-week promotion for a $50 rebate for those who purchased the premium Xbox 360 model during that time frame.
Even so, Michael Pachter doesn’t think Microsoft is done with their efforts to make their system more attractive to consumers. In the latest Bonus Round episode, the analyst from Wedbush Securities stated that Microsoft can cut the price of the Xbox 360 by $50 at anytime. Here is his statement when asked how Microsoft can counter the rising momentum of the Playstation 3:
“What Microsoft has on its pocket is $50 more on its price, which they can pull that trigger anytime they feel like it. You guys all saw the rebate that they have. They did it to see how the market reacted. It’s a two week promotion, September 22nd to October 5th and it’s done. They want to see what $50 does before they do $50 across the board. They made it a little bit hard to do: you got to cut out a box piece, you got to enter a code on the website. But they’re testing it.”
When discussing the Modern Warfare 2 hardware bundle, he later added: “They are going to have a 250 gig box. That’s the point. They didn’t buy 5,000 of these as a test. There’s going to be a 250 gig 360 some day. So I actually think you’re going to see the 120 gig get priced at $249 whenever they feel like it, which might be January, February, it’s going to happen. So, if I were a gamer, I will be watching for that. I think Microsoft got more leverage to pull.”
The upcoming holiday season should be quite interesting to say the least, especially with the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii recently getting a price drop. While the Xbox 360 also got one, its entry price still remains the same with the Xbox Live Arcade at $199.99.
