Micrfosofts earnings report is the furthest away from abysmal you'll ever get. Even if they sell ten million consoles at a loss of hundred dollars (both figures are overdoing it a fucking lot) that will only decrease the profit by 1 billion, and Microsoft earns ~6 billion per quarter (three months).

OT: It would be suicide for XBO sales if they did.

Sony will be dropping the price by at least $50 next year for sure. So it's a matter of when not if.

Maybe officially, but I fully expect everyone to continue selling at least the non-bundled xbONE for $350.

If they're smart, they wont

They must do it, as the current one was announced as temporary and they need to announce a definitive cut, to avoid any possible source of confusion leading some possible buyers that for any reason missed the timed offer to delay the purchase until a definitive official cut is announced and also because a second announcement would provide some more free advertising from media reporting it in the news.

Odds are that decision will come down to whether or not MS thinks the increase in sales will be enough to counter losing $50 in revenue per console.

If they think kepping it at $349 will get them let's say...90k units a week, vs. Let's say 60k units at $399. Than they might say that's a worthwhile sales increase. But if it's something more like 75k vs 60k, it may not be.

Yes.. They will raise the price come January.. Because it will be a $349 Xbox One with ZERO games.. Right now you are getting the X1 for really $279 since the AC bundled games equal about $70..

If they go back to selling the X1 only SKU.. at $349.. the price did rise..

I never understood this sentiment. Microsoft is a business. If they have a choice to either lose money for the whole division, and maybe be competitive in one market. Or make money as a solid 2nd, they're going to do the latter. At least any savy business would.

MSFT can't afford to let the console go back up as sales will tank. They are banking on making money from software/XBoxLive and taking a hit on hardware vs sony making money on both.

You essentially hit it right on the head.

Also, M$ is counting on releasing Windows 10 to the XB1 in 2015.  They have announced that it will also release on PC and Windows Phone in 2015.  So, their plan to have a unified operating system will be complete by the endo of 2015.  Why does this matter?  Well, they will then have platforms available in every part of the home to push not just XBL, but Office and XBox Music/Movies/Games.  THey have already started rolling out package deals to get all of their services bundled together.

So, losing a little money on the console is an acceptable part of ensuring that they gain access to as many homes as possible.