Can the XB1 take back the US crown?

[Landguy]

Shadow1980 said:

Landguy said:

Even though many disagree, I think M$ is the only one who can afford to be in a price war.  Sony has the sales afdvantage right now, and they get to keep the price high.  If they drop the price, they also lose the profitability.  Long term, Sony will keep the PS4's price as high as possible.  They are getting enough of the market that they don't need to lower the price just to "beat" Microsoft.  They need the profit to continue to fuel the companies turn around.

Does that mean that Microsoft wants to lose money?  No, but they will do whatever it takes to stay relevent this generation, even if it means only winning 2 months a year.  Most people only hear about the christmas sales anyway, so winning Jan-Oct. doesn't have the effect that the Holidays have in peoples minds.

Sony doesn't need to engage in a price war. They just need a single $100 price cut (yes, "need"; sales won't grow without a price cut), which is quite normal for a first price cut. Sales will bust through the roof. Meanwhile, the XBO needs to stay below parity just to keep from falling too far behind. And while MS the company can technically afford the losses, the Xbox brand can't. Xbox has been a huge money sink for the company, and even though the company itself is profitable a hugely unprofitable division can get the axe. Investors are already apparently not too keen on the company keeping making game hardware because of the losses incurred. If the XBO were reduced to $200 this year, we may not see another Xbox after this.

The sales of the PS4 are well ahead of the wildest of speculations.  Even now, it is selling above what anyone would have thought.  They don't need to drop the price to achieve an even higher sell through rate, as the one they have now is excellent.  Sony will drop the price of the PS4 this year, but $50 will be sufficaent to keep the sales pace.  They will most likely do add ins to add more value to the $350 price.  The XB1 will grow in sales this year, and it will drop in price to do so.  But, it more than likely still won't achieve sales parity with the PS4 Jan-Oct.  Sony dropping the price to get more sales is just bad business.  They will drop the price to keep sales where it is though...