To be honest a price cut seven months after the last one sounds like MS's last Trump to play. If it doesn't work i think MS will bail this gen and gear up for the next box.

gebx
It is not a normal pricing strategy to have a price cut seven months after the last one unless you are the end of the consoles life expectancy. I don't think its reached that so this is not normal.

@joshin69
That is what MS is capable of.
Its normal.

Quote again since it seems Sony fanboys are failing to see the irony in their posts (OP included).

MS faces a tough battle in Europe. The Microsoft name has been slandered by the EC goverments for years, while those same governments use MS as it's own personal ATM machine. MS also has to deal with the perception in Europe that Sony has a better machine. Put the two together and it's a tough challenge to get past, one I think MS has actually done rather well with.

The price cuts are not desperation or confidence merely business, MS wants to stay competitive and the only tool they have to do so is price. It's Microsofts way of saying "We're just as good as they are and were going to force you to make a tough choice, stick with your bias or buy with your wallet."

Sales should increase, especially in England, and should give MS enough leverage to stay competitive for the next couple of years until the next system arrives.

Good post DMeisterJ...I've seen too many slanted posts lately, we should all be able to discuss without flaming. :)

At the bolded part.  You are simply fighting with semantics, but here ya go.  You are talking about two different models of the PS3, the second being more cheaply made than the first, so they did not eat all the costs of that price cut. 

The 360 again you are talking about two slightly different sku's, because they added more to their own cost.  As you said it's better, so MS actually is eating more than just the cost of the pricecut since they are also eating the cost of the extra things they've put into the model.

YOu can argue that the numbers mean the same thing if you want, but I find it hard to agree with you.  MS has cut the price and increased the value (assumedly), and Sony has decreased the price while decreasing the value, from a financial point of view they are not the same thing.

What happened to MS wanting to keep the profit they had began to gain. Last quarter reported a loss. Can software sales coming up sustain these worldwide price cuts?

Wait, so they lowered the price AND took out functionality to save money, and this is evidence of a less desperate move?

Just saying...