No price change coming soon, says Microsoft
by Adams Briscoe 
{ May 22nd 2006 at 1:30PM }
Not that the current prices are that bad, but seeing the cost of the 360 drop even more could potentially solidify the rest of the market for Microsoft come November.That's what a lot of people have been saying, at least. But Chris Lewis from Microsoft has said that such a drop won't take place. "We have no plans to make any price adjustment. ... we have a great value proposition." No argument there. Cheap gamers may have been holding out for a price cut, but anyone who really wanted a 360 would have already invested by now. If you're one of those thrifty people though, you may as well go ahead and bite the bullet because it doesn't look like Microsoft will be offering the console for any cheaper than it already is any time soon.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Vader582 @ May 22nd 2006 2:04PM
Can anyone say "bluff"? ;)
matthew @ May 22nd 2006 2:17PM
Why would they? The only reason I see them maybe doing it this holiday season would be if Wii is 200 bucks. The 360's price was well worht it to me. I hated online gaming and never thought that would change, even after having Xbox Live for the entire run of the OG Xbox. But now having Live for the 360, I'm a fan. Spent my weekend with marathon runs of Oblivion, with Online Elimination Uno for hours before and after that. And I'm still happy with all they gave us for E3.
Kids across america will be getting Wii's and 360's by the boatloads, unless their parents own car dealerships or sell drugs. PS3: The console of Drug Dealers and Trustfunders everywhere. I'm not bashing the Playstation, I'm bashing the price point.
Les Doodis @ May 22nd 2006 2:58PM
Yup, now that they're already $200 cheaper than the PS3, there's no need for them to drop the price to be competetive. Sure, the Wii will be much less expensive, but they're not really competing with the Wii as much as with the PS3.
Andrew @ May 22nd 2006 3:05PM
Price schmice -- now there's really no reason for me to buy a 360 until they switch from 90nm to 65nm in 2007. Until then, I'll just keep leeching off my neighbor's 360.
Deezul @ May 22nd 2006 3:07PM
Plus, if MS said "We expect a price drop in three months" a LOT of people would just wait for the drop. The only way to announce price drops is it to announce it the day it occurs. I suspect a $50 price drop in November near the 1 year anniversary. What's the history of other consoles dropping their prices?
Shiro @ May 22nd 2006 3:16PM
Price drop comes along with Halo 3.
;D
Thomas Crymes @ May 22nd 2006 3:31PM
What was said is the only thing they could say.
If they do drop the price at PS3's launch, they aren't going to announce it now, because if they did, all of their current sales would instantly dry up.
None of us will hear about price cuts until a week or two before hand. When did we find out that Sony was dropping the price on the PS2?
I think that MS will either drop the price by $50.00 or start shipping units with the WiFi adapter for $400.
pennywise969 @ May 22nd 2006 4:00PM
Of course this is what they are going to say. They want people to think that they "may as well go ahead and bite the bullet". Even if they have a price drop planned, they are still going to say this just to keep people from waiting, and maybe encorage some people who might have waited into buying now.
mike @ May 22nd 2006 4:23PM
i really hope ms dont bundle the wireless adon wit the 360 because 70% of people dont need it
LongshotX @ May 22nd 2006 4:27PM
If they were to announce the price drop now, it would truly be folly. People would no longer continue to buy systems but would instead hold out until the price dropped. The price drop will happen but it will be when people least expect it, like an overnight thing. I suspect that we will see a price cut somewhere in mid November, near the PS3's launch and the Xbox 360's 1 year anniversary.
matt @ May 22nd 2006 4:47PM
They cannot even think of a price cut out loud. They need to keep selling units as fast as possible at the higher price. Then when they announce the price cut people will go running to the store to get the cheaper price cut.
Don't wait to save a meager $50.00. The system is awesome and their are so many games that you can play. You won't regret spending the money only that you didn't "Jump In" sooner.
Xfan @ May 22nd 2006 5:20PM
I dunno about anyone who wanted one would have already invested by now. I've been wanting one since launch, and it was only last week that I finally saw a 360 in the store, making it the first opportunity for me to actually buy one.
I'm thinking now that they're becoming readily avilable, Microsoft will ride the current price until sales slow down. Since sales spiked in April, and I'm assuming will again in May, there's no incentive for Microsoft to lower the price right now.
If I were Microsoft, I wouldn't touch the price until the PS3 is released, and I'd also throw in a game and/or increase the hard drive size.
CrymeLord @ May 22nd 2006 5:42PM
MS has a chance to deal a killing blow to Sony, and I know what could seal the deal, but it would cost them a lot of game sales.
Bundle Gears of War with the 360 this Holiday season for $400. If that game is as big as they say , then it would be a huge advantage. Then people could buy a system with a killer app, that is 100% playable out of the box with no extra purchases for $400.
Of course that would cost MS too much money in lost royalties on Gears of War for them to consider it.
But if I was MS, I would crunch the data I had real hard to see if it could work. They can just go toe to toe with Sony having the confidense they could outlast them, or they could throw a haymaker and hope for the best.
I vote for the haymaker.
boots @ May 22nd 2006 6:26PM
The price drop most likely won't come till PS3 comes out; even then, 360 has a price advantage, so Microsoft might even decide to stay where they are.
Anyway, a price drop right now would be stupid. Sure, the demand would go up, but the 360 needs more games and more competition. Also, they need to make enough supply for holiday, and earn as much money now to recoup for any future price drop or competition.
allmodcons @ May 22nd 2006 6:28PM
I doubt we will se a price decrease this year unless Sony drops the price on the PS3 which seems unlikely considering they think it is underpriced, but we may see Xbox Live Gold offered for free in Nov. to counter Sony's free online service.
Robert @ May 22nd 2006 6:42PM
Well, there IS reason for them to drop the price just a bit and that is HDDVD addon prices. They need to either drop the system price a tad, say $50, and launch the HDDVD addon at ~$150, making the total $400-500 depending on the version, a $100 price difference... OR they can keep priceses the same and sell the addon for $99... either way, they are "last years" tech, so they need to undercut Sony by a significant margin.
DeadPlasmaCell @ May 22nd 2006 6:46PM
They need a 360+HD-DVD bundle for the Holidays, and sell it for $500 or $550. That would be a sweet deal.
theyahia @ May 22nd 2006 7:59PM
There will for sure be a price break soon. Both Microsoft and Sony said the same exact things last time (no price drop). They both announced the drops at the last second. I think the premium will be $300 when the ps3 comes out and the core will be $250.
Tim @ May 22nd 2006 8:53PM
Why can't they do a "get it while it's cheap" style thing for only the last week of november and first two weeks of december. permanent 25$ price drop with a 50$ "three week special" price?
Or would that result in something where all the people who missed the deal go "Shit... might as well just go for the PS3 if I'm going to spend more anyway..."
I dont know. Maybe that's for some marketing guru to decide. I'm sure Microsoft has many of those.
Xbox360Fan @ May 23rd 2006 1:17AM
I think MS should consider lowering its price, Yes PS3 price is still higher but by lowering its price MS can compete with the Wii market. Right now MS needs to get a larger base for its Live platform which i think its now their main cash cow.
MarvinK @ May 24th 2006 5:24PM
I think they'll bundle PGR3 or Perfect Dark or Top Spin 2 or another early Microsoft title for Christmas. I think the 360 premium box compares more closely to the least expensive PS3, so the price difference is really $100.
The key advantage for Microsoft won't be price, it will be availability. Plus lots of games--and hopefully plenty of them will have dropped from a ridiculous $60/ea to some sort of "hit" price of $25-30. PS3 & Wii are going to be hard to get, have limited (and expensive) games and hopefully the 360 will be readily available, bundled with games and have lots of games (with a variety of prices) to choose from.
Mark G @ May 24th 2006 9:49PM
Not really a concern for me.I like xb360 but its a wii for at $250.00.
spoo @ May 25th 2006 2:32AM
I see less (consoles) in stores now then I did in April, May should be another good month for MS.
NeverSage @ May 25th 2006 4:14PM
I think Microsoft will at least wait for Nintendo to announce the price of the Wii. Microsoft knows they aren't competing with them, so if Microsoft drops the price where people can get a Wii and a 360 for the price of a PS3, they'll be golden.
jg @ May 27th 2006 4:46PM
of course they won't change. I don't ever remember a game console dropping in price after 1 year. everyone has been saying the xbox 360 would drop in price after a year. i don't know what people are thinking, this has never happened and ms doesn't need to do so either. they are positioned well against both sony and nintendo.
TxdoHawk @ May 29th 2006 8:14PM
As others have said, Microsoft will fervently deny a price drop until it happens. All you do is kill potential sales at the higher price point. MS knows for a fact that there's going to be a spike in sales at the first price drop no matter what, the goal is to maximize profit by getting as many people as they can in now.
I'm waiting...not so much for a price drop, but for several other things, a bigger game library and the last of the glitchy Xboxen to get off the shelves mainly. I look forward to diving in this year though.
RevJonathan @ Jun 1st 2006 12:36AM
I'm biting the bullet on a 360 soon, but I'll bet they'll drop for the Wii. There's SO much hype around that thing right now. If it stays that way, Microsoft will have to drop to beat Nintendo.
...If you'd told me that would be the case a year ago, I would've laughed in your face.