Phrancheyez said: Why do they feel they need to do this? Are they getting scared of the PS3 for beating them week-over-week so much this year or something? I don't know..130 is low, are they targeting the Wii now? I think this will come back to haunt them honestly. |
Not really. The X360 can go lower if it wants.
Playstation fans can't decry the Xbox 360 as technically inferior due to the lack of built-in HDD, wifi, Blu-Ray, and other amenities, then start to argue that the Xbox 360's price changes are desperation. Microsoft took the cheapest route for building a system: It first showed with the slapdash unreliable X360 that came on the market first, and also the fact that the technical aspects lacked a lot of expensive components.
The X360 is as low as it *can* get now, but in a year, more revisions will take place, and they can drop the Arcade to $169 or even $149.
You see, part of Microsoft's strategy is to maintain a price advantage against it's rivals - Not only was it the first console on the market, but it's also had a years' start with model revisions that can drive costs down. This will help Microsoft to maintain flexibility to re-do prices when they are required.
It's not desperation, it's not stupidity. It's a cold, calculated move by MS to get as much marketshare in underpreforming markets as possible. The MS machine has the ability to re-price the machine due to the deep cost cutting strategies they've employed on the X360 that just weren't there on the Xbox.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.