famousringo said:
It's in the numbers. Despite a superior library and cheaper price, 360 is still losing ground to PS3 in NA. Despite securing the rights to GTA IV's DLC, PS3 still got a larger hardware bump from the title. 360 software is still selling great. The platform isn't dead, but these facts suggets that the core market which is interested in buying a 360 at the current price point is close to being tapped, while PS3 has more growth potential at its current price point and userbase. The question is: Is Microsoft willing to slash profits on the consoles it is selling just to increase the userbase? Will the surge in demand justify the lost profits? I'm going to go with a 'no' here, in response to both questions. MS and Sony both know that they aren't going to seize the market leader position. The cost won't justify securing second place. |
I agree with most of what you're saying except for the cost being an issue for MS. MS is almost literally floating in cash, and their investors have traditionally been conditioned to expect stock valuation increases instead of dividends (MS refused to pay dividends until the feds forced the issue a couple of years ago).
From what I know of MS corporate thinking, they're willing to throw huge piles of money at a market before calling it quits. Look at the Zune... it's a failure in almost every sense of the word, yet they persist. Why? They believe they can eventually wear down the competition.
Looking into my crystal ball, here is what I foresee happening in August or September of this year:
1. MS announces/releases a new 360
2. The new 360 has a processed-reduced (45nm) GPU that allows the unit to run much cooler
3. The new, cooler-running 360 will virtually eliminate any remaining RROD issues
4. The new 360 will have a much quieter optical drive
5. The new 360 will come in two models: a $199 model with $80 GB hard drive, and a $299 model with $160 GB hard drive
6. All models will support HDMI
I don't see MS putting a Blu-ray drive into this generation of their console... that will be in the next generation, which is fairly far along in development. The same for built-in WiFi.
