The Arcade has dropped from AU$399 to AU$349; the Xbox 360 Pro (20GB hard drive and headset) is now AU$499 (previously AU$579); and the Elite (120GB hard drive, headset and HDMI cable) is now AU$649 (previously Au$729).
Obviously, this bodes well for an imminent US price cut, as has been heavily rumoured in recent weeks.
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/885/885458p1.html?RSSwhen2008-07-01_002000&RSSid=885458
Microsoft has stated that the move is to pass savings onto the consumer:
“We’d had a pretty good track record of - wherever possible - passing along savings to the consumer,” Microsoft Australia’s Jeremy Hinton told Gamespot. “So with the recent currency fluctuations as well as some cost savings we’ve been able to make, we thought that the July period was a perfect time to pass those along to the consumer for people looking to lay by for Christmas.”
Hinton added: “This is a strategy we’ve had for some time. Decisions are made not necessarily around what the competition are doing. And from our point of view, the last 12 months have been very successful - more dollars have gone through retail tills on Xbox 360 products than both of our competitors.”
