While the dismal performance of
Sony's (NYSE:
SNE) PlayStation 3 continues to weigh on the company's fortunes, the competition is making waves all over the place. First, the
scrappy Nintendo has outdone everyone and has shown that consumer engagement means much more than technical performance and brilliance. The less-advanced Nintendo Wii has outsold the Sony PlayStation 3 for almost the entire time both gaming consoles have competed (since November of last year), and the numbers for the Wii continue to add up while the PlayStation 3's numbers are hunkering down looking for an escape from any media coverage.
Meanwhile,
Microsoft's (NASDAQ:
MSFT) Xbox 360, which was priced in the middle of the Wii's ($250) and the PlayStation 3's ($500 and up) price points has sold very well during the same six-month time period, trailing the Wii but ahead of the PlayStation 3. Adding fuel to this fire, Microsoft
has announced executive David Hufford said the sweet spot of the market
that it will drop the price of the "core" Xbox 360 gaming package is only $199 --
a drop from the previous $299. Was this price drop in Microsoft's business plan? Probably so -- but the company may have had to accelerate the drop based on how well the Wii is performing in sales compared to all the competition.
So there you have it --
the Microsoft Xbox 360 is now at $200 and the Nintendo Wii is at $250. I doubt Sony can even drop the PlayStation 3 price without completely losing its shirt, so I don't see any price drops on the PlayStation 3 in response to Microsoft's price cut, unless Sony is fond of kamikaze pricing schemes. So far, estimates have the Nintendo Wii selling 360,000 units per month, the Xbox 360 selling 174,000 units and the PlayStation 3 selling at an 82,000 per month clip.
[
Update: this Xbox 360 price cut
has been officially denied as of 6-12-07 -- but we still wonder,
when will the price drop?]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-11-2007 @ 11:35AM
SAGExSDX said...
is this true that microsoft has dropped the price of the core to $200? i haven't seen any news on it and in fact, have only seen refutes to the rumors that there will be a price drop soon. http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2007/06/08/551072.aspx
6-11-2007 @ 11:49AM
StratTastic said...
Yeah, I think you guys got some bad info. The story you linked to was posted on the 9th, but there's no MS press release and no other site has picked up the story. If there really was a price drop every video game blog would have reported on this when the original story dropped. Also, why would try drop the core without dropping the other SKU's.
6-12-2007 @ 11:40AM
jeff said...
First off, you cannot compare PS3 to the others, they are all in totally different leagues. And big deal the lesser Xbox 360 dropped in price, no wants to buy it anyways. And the Wii is ok, they don't have any solid releases and they have done a horrible job with the use of your controllers. Also good luck having a 360, once the new controllers come out and you have to buy a HD DVD drive you will be spending close to another 500$, therefore making the 360 close to 1000$. Also you have to buy the game add-ons from microsoft which are often overly priced and not worth it cough... Guitar Hero ... cough. So trying to bring down the PS3 is pointless at this time, since this technology will outlast the wii and 360 by years. When Microsoft and Nintendo are making new consoles, the PS3 will still be going strong
6-12-2007 @ 11:39AM
graham_fair said...
And just to be unbiased, you forgot to also point out that the Wii is outselling the 360 by huge margins, just like the PS3.
6-12-2007 @ 11:55AM
Ben said...
You need to do a little more fact checking before posting stories like this.
6-19-2007 @ 5:50PM
Tony C. said...
Microsoft should drop their prices so it matches the actual cost of their poor quality machines-low!!
6-18-2007 @ 8:43PM
WHOUKIDDIN said...
THATS LIKE SELLING ONE GREEN SOCK AT A LOWER PRICE THAN A PAIR OF BLACK ONES. NO ONE WANTS IT!!!!!!!!
7-07-2007 @ 1:11PM
nancy said...
The X-box 360 is worthless I have had mine for less than a year have had the red rings of death twice the last time was two weeks ago got the paperweight back on 7/3/07 played for 20 min and again the three red rings of death!!!!! I just want my money back but microsoft says NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Why?????? I have a 500.00 dollar paperweight. What can a person do?????? Any Ideas????? Please HELP!!!!!!!!!!