NVM

Long term none, this is a short term promotion marketed as such. Its people who were interested in X1 buying it now rather then later. Those people are not infinite, once satisfied the numbers will drop even if the price and game deals stay.

Its a price cut bump amplified with free Game bundles bump, it will not last it never does.

We dont have data on how its impacted it yet, so i have no idea if it makes any sort of difference. 50 is still a small difference.

There won't be any long term effect. X360 was always cheaper, and even had a year headstart, and it still ended up selling less than PS3.
XOne is cheaper than PS4 in UK for a while, and is still selling worse.

But of course, this lower price will help it to not fall behind even more...

WW it'll most likely follow the 360,PS3 pattern i.e. the PlayStation console which is more expensive will still outsell the MS one. Sony haven't even cut their price yet and If I were to bet, I'm pretty damn sure Sony will announce a 299 PS4 at Gamescom '15 .

At this rate I think its safe to say that Sony doesn't have a price cut planned. Its already November. Pachter was rejoicing over a little secret Microsoft had for years end and this was it. He also said Sony executives tried to get the secret out of him but he wouldnt tell.

50$ could make things a little better, but it's far from being just about price. The GC and XBox had a massive price drop, and if it's hard to tell how much effect it had on the long term, the fact is that they could not achieve any real come-back. If it was a long term drop, Sony would ignore if it has not so much impact, and do the same a few month later if it has impact. They are not really in a hurry.

I bet that more than a price drop, what MS want to achieve with that temporary drop is to force more people that wanted to buy it within a year, those who would buy both console later, in order to achieve a good Christmas. I don't think the extra sales have a direct effect on long term (a few millions more or less doesn't change a thing, compared to the 16~18 millions the PS4 will become). But if it sells good enough it could give them the opportunity to communicate about the good Christmas ("Best seller in USA for Christmas", for example), announce sale numbers, and tell basically that the XBone is worth buying. And that something that can have impact on the long term, and improve their image.

Yes, it will

Hmmm, i think this is a good move, but alone it will do little long term.
What is really helping XONE is the fact it has better exclusives.

On February the real battle could begin with PS exclusives. That said, The Order Demo has failed to impress and if Bloodborne follows Souls series sucess, it could be niche.

As time go by, XONE situation will recover as PS4 hype fades slowly with the lack of exclusives, at least until Uncharted and other mass appeal games