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Forums - Sales - Is MS drying up supply before a re-launch?

Salamursu on 27 February 2008

I think that the best proof of MS not deliberately drying up the channel in precedence of a new SKU is the fact that they are now stocking the same old models as before.

The SKU updates are inevidable, but when they happen they are not likely to be related to the shortages MS has reported. People were keeping this theory alive before GDC and many were 150% certain that MS would announce this and that, but nothing much happened along the lines of new actual models coming up in such an immediate timeframe it would be in any way sensible for MS to deliberately slow down their own sales for several months.

A couple of weeks would have been sensible, but calling these shortages planned when the new SKU's are most likely months away and old models currently bein re-stocked is just silly.



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DragonLord on 27 February 2008

I doubt it. I thought so at first, but GDC came and went with no announcements and it seems like they are STARTING to get some of the supply issues sorted out. I saw Elites and Premiums in stock most places yesterday. And online retailers seem to have them in stock again.



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Mummelmann on 27 February 2008

I don't know that MS is doing, but local stores here are trying to get rid of the old models to fit the newer and more reliable ones on the shelves. People here are deathly afraid of the RRoD, and aren't too much into the online either, so its moving pretty slow outside of christmas season.



DMeisterJ on 27 February 2008

Umm... no. Maybe the 360 just isn't selling? I see plenty of Arcades and pros at my local bb.



ZenfoldorVGI on 27 February 2008

I think they did tout the HD-DVD player, and I also think it was dangerously close to being packed in with the 360.



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X-Man on 27 February 2008

Stop looking for excuses, the 360 just isn't selling well.



ssj12 on 27 February 2008
thekitchensink said:
damkira said:
How long will a new SKU prop up the 360? There's been.. what? Three skus of the 360, which is less than what the PS3 had and its in last place and its not like they can tout the hd dvd player anymore.

1. Where the hell did you get 5 SKUs from?  There's the Core/Arcade (which are EXACTLY the same except that Arcade comes with a memory card and some XBLA games), the Pro (20-gig) system, and the Elite (120-gig) system.  Maybe you're counting the Halo 3 edition, which is a Pro console with a custom skin?  Or the Pro bundle that has Marvel and Forza with it?  If that's the case, then Ps3 has had at least 7 SKUs, and PS2 has had at least 30.

2. They never touted the HD-DVD player.  If they were touting it, they would have had it built-in.  What they did was say 'hey, it's there if you want it.'

3. If 360 is in last place, then where does that leave the PS3, which is 6.85 million consoles behind?


1. there are actualy 7 SKUs total. The current core/pro/elite with HDMI and the core/pro/elite without and the Halo 3 SKU.  Now the Opus SKU will takeover repairs of all cor/pro/elite SKU no matter if they have an HDMI port or not.  Jasper will be installed in all upcoming consoles followed by it's repacement Valhalla.  Opus, Jasper and Valhalla wont really be considered new SKUs jsut figured I would point them out.

3. Fixed your number to VgChartz's number.



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thekitchensink on 27 February 2008
ssj12 said:
thekitchensink said:
damkira said:
How long will a new SKU prop up the 360? There's been.. what? Three skus of the 360, which is less than what the PS3 had and its in last place and its not like they can tout the hd dvd player anymore.

1. Where the hell did you get 5 SKUs from?  There's the Core/Arcade (which are EXACTLY the same except that Arcade comes with a memory card and some XBLA games), the Pro (20-gig) system, and the Elite (120-gig) system.  Maybe you're counting the Halo 3 edition, which is a Pro console with a custom skin?  Or the Pro bundle that has Marvel and Forza with it?  If that's the case, then Ps3 has had at least 7 SKUs, and PS2 has had at least 30.

2. They never touted the HD-DVD player.  If they were touting it, they would have had it built-in.  What they did was say 'hey, it's there if you want it.'

3. If 360 is in last place, then where does that leave the PS3, which is 6.85 million consoles behind?


1. there are actualy 7 SKUs total. The current core/pro/elite with HDMI and the core/pro/elite without and the Halo 3 SKU.  Now the Opus SKU will takeover repairs of all cor/pro/elite SKU no matter if they have an HDMI port or not.  Jasper will be installed in all upcoming consoles followed by it's repacement Valhalla.  Opus, Jasper and Valhalla wont really be considered new SKUs jsut figured I would point them out.

3. Fixed your number to VgChartz's number.

 

1. Like I said the Halo one is NOT a new SKU.  It's a limited-edition Pro with Green-coloured casing.  There is NO other difference.  I suppose it could be argued that the HDMI and regular versions could be considered different, but to the average consumer, they offer the same functionality for the same price, and the old SKU was eliminated from the market (mostly) to the point where most people aren't even aware of the change, making it moot.

3. Fair enough.  I knew it was a bit less than 7 million, I just didn't know the exact number and didn't care to look.

 



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Alby_da_Wolf on 27 February 2008

ZenfoldorVGI said:
I think they did tout the HD-DVD player, and I also think it was dangerously close to being packed in with the 360.

And in another thread ( http://vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=18877 ):

DMeisterJ said:

We have all seen January's NPD, and have seen sales from America the past few weeks, and the PS3 has been selling more than the XBOX 360... but why? If we are to believe Microsoft, the 360 is having problems with supply, a la the Nintendo Wii, but why would shortages be happening now, two years after launch? It's not like it doubled sales from the previous year or anything, so where are all of the XBOX 360s at?

The answer? The "Ultimate" XBOX 360. The internet was all abuzz a few weeks before CES about Microsoft coming out with an Ultimate XBOX 360 with a built in HD-DVD drive, and Wireless. But before CES started, Warner Bros. put their weight behind Blu-Ray, effectively ending the "HD Format Wars".

What I think is that Microsoft may have been phaasing out the Elite and Pro SKUs and adopted a two SKU strategy, a la Sony, and have only the Arcade and the "Ultimate". I also believe that the "Ultimate" SKU would have been priced competitively at $400 to go directly against the 40 GB PS3. And now that HD-DVD has lost the format wars, they have to now go back to producing Pro and Elite XBOX 360s. This would also explain why Arcades are always in supply whenever you go to your local store, and the Pro and Elites are hard to find.

What do you think?

and

fkusumot said:

The rumor is Microsoft is having problems keeping up with supply because of ongoing issues related to replacement of defective console.


I think there could be more than one reason and I think that they could be the two ones that the three of you hypothesized: intense holiday usage could have accelerated the death by RROD of lots of old vulnerable 360's still alive and the sudden death of HD-DVD could have caught MS already producing and stocking them or in an advanced phase of conversion of top models' production lines to make them with by now useless HD-DVD's included.
It's not the only possible explanation, but it's one thad could explain plausibly what's happening.


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ArtofAngels on 27 February 2008

Why would the dry up supply? That's just stupid, it's funny the excuses you guys come up with because 360 sales are becoming so worrisome.