kowenicki said:
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I've mentioned before that this could unquestionably be the 360's peak year.
- If Kinect really is something people want, demand could realistically carry into early spring before slowing down significantly. Especially if MS has problems adjusting to such a demand during a time of year where shipments and production usually notably shows down.
- MS has yet to give a good picture of what Kinect will bring in 2011. CES (tonight possibly) will likely have some mainstream endeavors shown with GDC and E3 giving the core gamers something to ponder.
- Assuming they wait until August, it will have been 3 years since the last price cut (and no, the Elite drop was not an actual price cut no matter how some try to spin it). With a redesign to reduce production cost and the time that has passed, by all intents and purposes there could be a significant price cut. But I doubt there will. I'd imagine it will be $50 across the board for all stand alone devices ($99 Kinect, $149 4g 360, $249 250 g 360). It is very reasonable to think that they can afford this and maintain decent profitability at least.
- What could potentially be the REAL killer, though, is if they maneuver a great Kinect bundle price out of this. Currently the Kinect bundle is priced at $299 while, if bought separately it would cost $348. If they took the same approach after the other price cuts (separate would be $248), the Kinect bundle would be priced at $199. Personally, I don't see anything that MS could that would be more potent than THAT.
