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Username2324 on 09 March 2008
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starcraft said:
Username2324 said:
I think you misunderstood was I was saying then, I was trying to point out that making a 20GB and a 60GB laptop drive is different, and therefore more costly, just like making a 120GB lapotop drive requires different technology and in turn costs more.

My point was it would cost Microsoft much more money to switch from buying 20GB to 120GB, and would either eliminate the price drop, or drive Microsoft into the red once again.

But thats just it. With economies of scale the price difference between a 20gb and 60gb HDD is almost negligible. There is still a reasonable difference with models like 250gb and to a lessor extent 160gb that haven't been as widely produced, but even 120gb are only marginally more expensive at manufacturing levels. The main retail difference comes from markups.

So what you are saying doesn't make sense. The actual physical cost of the drives is almost the same, the only cost that would exist is changing over production lines. But Microsoft wouldn't pay this cost themselves, because they would simply make their third-party producer absorb it by threatening to switch suppliers. If the TP refused, they really would switch suppliers.

At the end of the day, whichever scenario you really were talking about, the price of making that model of Xbox 360 is almost exactly the same before AND after the HDD upgrade.

That's exactly what I've been trying to get you all to see, and that is why I say a jump from 20GB to 60GB is most likely.

The actual physical cost of materials doesn't change, but to pay for the switch over production lines does, and if you think Microsoft can force them to do it for free.... Oh man. The supplier they want to switch to would have to do the same exact thing.

At the end of the day, and jump from 20GB  to 120GB and 120GB to 250GB would lose Microsoft too much money.

So like I said, 20GB to 60GB makes the most sense, and the Elite won't have any change. You and gebx just tried to change my words all up into a crazy knot.