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Forums - Sales Discussion - For Microsoft to cripple Sony

noname2200 on 13 June 2008

Actually, cutting the 360's price in half would cripple Microsoft more than Sony. A lot of you seem to think that Microsoft is still made of money, and that it can simply buy its way to victory in whatever field it chooses to enter. This is no longer the case. It is true that Microsoft Corporation, as a whole, has a war chest of $28 billion, which is a damned impressive figure. The thing is, it had over $60 billion only two years ago.

It's losing the search market engine sector to Google, its mobile hardware is being crushed by Apple and other manufacturers, its gaming division has yet to turn a profit (assuming you don't buy the accounting sleight-of-hand they pulled off last year to make future quarters look profitable on paper), and even its bread-and-butter, Windows, isn't growing.

Sorry folks, but as much as some of you want Microsoft to cut its prices and outsell Sony so that you can crow about it on internet forums, it appears that Microsoft is much more concerned with being profitable, and this proposed price cut wouldn't help with that. We might see a small price cut this year, but the odds on that are only even.



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Doktor85 on 13 June 2008
obieslut said:

If Microsoft cut the price of the x360's in half it could be the end of the sony ps3 unless the follow. if Microsoft want to stick the knife into sony they can do it, it is not like they can not afford it, pluss if micrsoft did this it could prevent sony from competing in the next generation, which i swhat Microsoft probably want anyway.

If Microsoft did this they will probably sell lots of x360 depending how many people want it. but if sony was to follow with the same price cuts then it would benefit sony more when it comes to sales, but they would not be able to afford it, on the other hand Microsoft can.

What are your thoughts, and how much do you think the x360 would sell if Microsoft did this


 It won't be the end for Sony. Third party developers will likely continue with timed exclusives like SO4. The problem is that the HD market is just too small for real exclusives. Microsoft already stole third party support. They will have a huge boost in sales, and will out sell the PS3 even when the impact wears off. This ain't a good idea for Microsoft. Their 18mln fanbase will be mad, when Microsoft cuts 360's price in half. It will also drive their PR division crazy, because it's impossible to cover the bad media all around the internet. It took them almost a year, before they covered RRoD.  



rocketpig on 13 June 2008
kn said:
Microsoft has lost its window of opportunity. A very strong price cut at the beginning of the last holiday season -- arcade to the same cost of the Wii, premium at $299 with a pack-in or three would have seriously hurt PS3 holiday sales and perhaps left the PS3 reeling so hard that it would have never reached a point of serious contention for first place. HD-DVD was still in the game and blu-ray was an unknown. At that time, a strong price cut would most likely have had devastating effects. MS opted to make a token cut and rely on bundles instead. It is too late, now, in my opinion as the PS3 has enough solid games to survive regardless of what MS does. MS made this choice, of course, because their gaming division has lost so much money and they want to return to profitability at some point.

At this point, cutting the price to a point of losing money would just be stupid. It won't make nearly the same impact it would have last holiday and MS would be losing money and not slowing the PS3. MS may well sell a lot more consoles, but they can't stop the PS3 at this point... They would be better served to keep the cost reasonable and try to remain profitable so they can enter the next generation without losing billions more...

I have nothing to add that kn didn't say.




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siriguillo on 13 June 2008
 obieslut said:

If Microsoft cut the price of the x360's in half it could be the end of the sony ps3 unless the follow. if Microsoft want to stick the knife into sony they can do it, it is not like they can not afford it, pluss if micrsoft did this it could prevent sony from competing in the next generation, which i swhat Microsoft probably want anyway.

 If Microsoft did this they will probably sell lots of x360 depending how many people want it. but if sony was to follow with the same price cuts then it would benefit sony more when it comes to sales, but they would not be able to afford it, on the other hand Microsoft can.

What are your thoughts, and how much do you think the x360 would sell if Microsoft did this 


  That is spending a LOT of money (billions... and by the way they have already loss 4.5billions in the gaming business) just to piss on sony… a LOT.  They are losing money on hardware they are not Nintendo, cutting the price in half would make the stock holders scream like a little girls in a snake pit.



Pristine20 on 13 June 2008
obieslut said:

If Microsoft cut the price of the x360's in half it could be the end of the sony ps3 unless the follow. if Microsoft want to stick the knife into sony they can do it, it is not like they can not afford it, pluss if micrsoft did this it could prevent sony from competing in the next generation, which i swhat Microsoft probably want anyway.

 If Microsoft did this they will probably sell lots of x360 depending how many people want it. but if sony was to follow with the same price cuts then it would benefit sony more when it comes to sales, but they would not be able to afford it, on the other hand Microsoft can.

What are your thoughts, and how much do you think the x360 would sell if Microsoft did this 


People who make these kinds of comments seem to forget that these companies got into the industry to make a profit not to fuel fanboy wars. Hell, Sony computers come with M$ windows OS. Cutting the 360s price in half would only return M$ deep into the red when they finally got out for the first time. What kind of businessman does this



"Dr. Tenma, according to you, lives are equal. That's why I live today. But you must have realised it by now...the only thing people are equal in is death"---Johann Liebert (MONSTER)

"WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives"---Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler

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Pristine20 on 13 June 2008
Rock_on_2008 said:
There is a huge difference in the financial positions of both Microsoft and Sony. MS by far has a lot more finances that it can do whatever it takes to dominate any market it choses. Sony can not afford to take such heavy losses, by heavily reducing PS3. Losses on PS3 in 18 months has already erased the profits Sony made on PS2.

Actually Sony is a bigger company than M$. The reason why M$ would have more funds to waste is because their main shareholder is far from strapped for cash. sony on the other hand has to answer to its investors.

PS3 losses have only erased PS2 hardware profits not software profits which are the real moneymaker---huge difference.

Companies get into an industry to make money, not to throw money away because the owner of the company is the richest man in the world. With that attitude, you definitely won't be hired for any business position. fanboys can bicker all they want, this industry is about PROFIT as much as everyone seems to forget.

Its funny but I think its this very attitude that got Kutaragi fired. He's just one of the fanboys not a businessman lol.



"Dr. Tenma, according to you, lives are equal. That's why I live today. But you must have realised it by now...the only thing people are equal in is death"---Johann Liebert (MONSTER)

"WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives"---Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler

TheBigFatJ on 13 June 2008

Microsoft is the underdog here in every way:

(1) Sony is a larger company than Microsoft
(2) Sony is the reigning champ in the console market
(3) Sony has more positive brand recognition than Microsoft.

Nothing within MS' reasonable power could kill Sony in the market. All they can hope for is to chip away at the Playstation brand, which they have done very well so far.



damkira on 13 June 2008

Microsoft has done pretty much everything they can and they still only lead Sony in North America.. Further price cuts would lose them even more than they're already losing.. If Microsoft were to capture the market, it would have done so already.

 



ArtznCraphs on 13 June 2008

Enough of this bullshit. In the end it's all about the games. Keep delivering respectable product is the only straight and true path. I don't think any amount of slick manuevering is going to win out in the end, and at least a company can walk away with some integrity and have a good chance of success if they release reliable hardware at a reasonable price that hosts a good range of quality software.



rocketpig on 13 June 2008
Pristine20 said:
Rock_on_2008 said:
There is a huge difference in the financial positions of both Microsoft and Sony. MS by far has a lot more finances that it can do whatever it takes to dominate any market it choses. Sony can not afford to take such heavy losses, by heavily reducing PS3. Losses on PS3 in 18 months has already erased the profits Sony made on PS2.

Actually Sony is a bigger company than M$. The reason why M$ would have more funds to waste is because their main shareholder is far from strapped for cash. sony on the other hand has to answer to its investors.

PS3 losses have only erased PS2 hardware profits not software profits which are the real moneymaker---huge difference.

Companies get into an industry to make money, not to throw money away because the owner of the company is the richest man in the world. With that attitude, you definitely won't be hired for any business position. fanboys can bicker all they want, this industry is about PROFIT as much as everyone seems to forget.

Its funny but I think its this very attitude that got Kutaragi fired. He's just one of the fanboys not a businessman lol.


Not. Even. Close.

MS is worthy roughly 5 times more than Sony.

http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=sne

http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/CIAtAGlance.jsp?tkr=MSFT

And what does Bill Gates have to do with this? Did you ever think where his wealth comes from?

Here's a hint... Microsoft stock. MS has to answer to its investors, the same as every other publicly-traded company. 




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