| VGKing said:
Not downplaying anything. XBox 360 is an extremely successful console. But the RROD epidemic really held it back. The price hasn't changed since 2009 as well...if Microsoft kept the price as low as possible and if RROD never happened, the 360 would have surpassed the Wii by now. But Microsoft seems to be only focused on profit right now. Do they really need to though? Getting a really cheap 360 out there and increasing brand awareness and marketshare to the poing of total domination could have been possible. Microsoft just isn't trying hard enough. |
It's fortunate for the competition that the RROD took the shine off the 360. As for pricing, MS would likely be wary of being accused of dumping to force out competitor products; don't forget MS is a convicted monopolist. By keeping the price as it is, MS stabilizes sales late in the gen, slim 360s would be pretty cheap to manufacture by now, and avoids saturating the market prematurely as the Wii has done.
I don't doubt that there's a Xbox price cut in store, but last I heard Sony had gone back to making a loss on PS3 hardware after the pre-holidays price cut. So any victory on sales would be phyrric for Sony, as evidenced by their bottom line. But on your second point, it's clear that MS' real product and earner is Xbox live, software and services, so it would make sense for them to get more out there.
So I'm not really sure what their aim is; MS has always been savvy at controlling markets, but conversely they're a little headless at the moment. Regardless, the 360 has vindicated earlier gaming investment by MS and shareholders must be pleased with the steady income that xbox live generates, and the current slim console is an excellent quality product. Overall the 360 has defeated the naysayers and can only be considered a success.
