desosav on 12 December 2014
| pokoko said: Let's put the fan-centric arguments of who "won" aside for a moment. Microsoft gained some ground in the installed base segment, which is always meaningful early in a generation. More importantly, they chipped away at the PS4's previously unassailable image of invulnerability, giving them a nice PR platform going into Christmas. On the downside, it cost them a hell of a lot of money. Now, someone is going to say that Microsoft doesn't care about money but that's bullshit. They certainly care, they're just not afraid of risky investments. Sony, who "lost" the month, sold around 800k units at nearly full price. Think about that for a minute. They could have gone head-to-head with Microsoft with price cuts but I think it's obvious that they'd rather take the profit. Of course, the things they gave up are meaningful. It's not a strategy without costs. Momentum in North America belongs to Microsoft right now. All of that is why who "won" is such a simplistic question. I think both companies come out of this satisfied but not ecstatic. Each went for what was most important for them, and did well, but they both paid a price. Anyway, as I've said before, this is a cycle that repeated all throughout the PS3/360 era and one that is likely to be repeated throughout this era--Sony pulls away in the first three quarters of the calendar year, Microsoft makes up ground in the last quarter. |
Everyone cares about money mate. The thing is that MS can reduce X1 price because of cheaper DDR3 modules and continue being profitable. Sony on the other hand with gddr5 modules need to wait before reducing prices. What we need to know is what profit each company makes by selling a console. You know SOny might earn 5$ per console sold and ms 15$ (random numbers)..Additionally you should take under consideration the economic problems sony has the last couple of years which looses 5bn$ per year. On the other hand economic results for ms are green all the way recording, record profits every year.
