To me this seems like an E3 announcement that got pushed up, the release date seems like a dead give away. Inclined to think that the April NPD XB1 numbers might be rough(and with this announcement they might've just killed May's)

Only time will tell

Most likely. There would be a lot of returns in June for the cheaper version.

I'm sure there are a ton of people who were holding off for something like this. This month give them a console they'll even consider buying, next month announce all the exciting new games. It's the one-two punch. Selling systems this early in the gen is all about hype, and doing this a month before E3 was perfect.

Simple - because there are too many news at E3 and strategic move news like this need get its time to spread. It's similar to what Sony did in 2011 and 2012 (I think that was the year) where they made multiple announcements before E3.

MS promised that E3 was going to be about games.

Kinect-less X1 at $399 and Xbox Live App service changes are not about games.

MS has created a lot of media attention in a positive way around Xbox since Titanfall, firmware updates, more policy changes, Sunset Overdrive, and now the cheaper, Kinect-less skew. They are gaining momentum with every announcement. If they continue this up to and including e3 it will be really good for X1 owners.

I think it's pretty obvious why they announced this, now. April NPD is getting released in a couple of days and things aren't going to be looking too good for the One. Wouldn't be surprised to see something along January's numbers. This is just so people don't panic, as the fix is on the way. Of course, May is going to be HORRIBLE for One sales.

And given that the $399 One is only #85 on Bestsellers for the hour, I don't think the price cut is going to do much good in the end.

I agree OP. MS announced they announced this now so E3 could be only about the games.

I guess that's ok, but it would have been a nice megaton to add on top of the games at E3.

One word, DESPERATION. They have done things like this before.

It doesn't come out for a month. Who would preorder this now?

You know Sony is bankrupt, right?