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pitzy272 on 21 May 2011
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RolStoppable said:
pitzy272 said:

A lot of people are saying Microsoft will drop price as soon as Sony does; but, Microsoft just recently redesigned and added features to the 360 (wifi, etc.). I would think this would make it more difficult for M$ to drop price whenever they so please, bc the system is seemingly more expensive now.

I remember Pachter and others said the same thing back in 2009 when the ps3 pricedrop was rumored. But M$ never did, did they? Didn't they just phase out their mid-level $299 SKU and bring down the $399 SKU to $299? Thus, not really a (true) price drop.

With the recent redesign, can M$ drop the 360's price as readily as some make it seem?

Yes, they can. The 360 is full of tech that is cheap to produce by now, so it won't be an issue for them to drop the price. Also, redesigns usually result in lower production costs, not higher ones.

The reason why they didn't do it in 2009 is because they felt confident and had a big enough overall lead over the PS3 (eight million, I think). The situation is different today. The PS3 continues to close the gap with every week that passes and the overall lead has shrunk to about three million units. Another price cut for the PS3 without a reaction from Microsoft would mean that Sony's console passes the 360 within a few months. If Microsoft really cares for second place, then they won't sit idle once Sony drops the price.


Typically they do, yeah, except that M$ added several things with the redesign rather than keeping the system the same and concentrating simply on reducing system costs. Adding Wifi couldn't have been a cheap addition, and adding the bigger HD had to cost a bit as well. Otherwise I would totally be with you on this. Like I said, M$ may very well drop the price this year. I just don't think the system production cost is so much less than the system sale price that M$ can drop price as easily as some make it sound.