Xbox 360, PS3 prices to fall this summer
Gaming will get cheaper, says analyst
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The price structure of games consoles has been static for a record length of time and will begin to fall this summer in order to keep the gadgets flying off the shelves.
Analyst Michael Pachter with US investment house Wedbush said this week that current console prices have remained the same for 18 months. He predicts they will drop, with an immediate-effect Xbox 360 price cut expected to be announced at the E3 Expo in June, CVG reports.
Pachter believes that with Kinect's triumph over Sony's PS Move, Microsoft is in the driver's seat on pricing and may consider a cut to extend its monthly sales lead.
The analyst said it is clear that demand for the Wii is fading and he reckons that Move's lack of traction in the marketplace is due to the high price point for a system bundle.
But surely if that's the case, won't Sony be the one to lower prices first?
Kinect puts Microsoft in pole position, apparently
"A console price cut from Microsoft would almost certainly prompt its competitors to follow suit, and we are confident that by [Christmas] 2011, all three consoles will be at least $50 cheaper than they are today," Pachter professed.
Basically, us Brits may get 20 quid or so off our console bundles by the summer. Pfft, that's not even enough to pre-order a preowned title from Game. ®
COMMENTS
"Person not in the know speculates on something they have no influence over"
So this is not actually an announcement from Sony or Microsoft, simply some idle speculation from an analyst. Who does he think he is, Ray Kurzweil?
Move along now, nothing to see here...
'But surely if that's the case, won't Sony be the one to lower prices first?'
I don't think they can afford a price cut. Sony are further behind Microsoft in cost-reducing their console and paying off its development costs. At the moment, Xbox is setting the pace for the industry and Sony are playing catch up.
The really significant move will be which company is going to be first to announce the next generation console? This generation has been around for a comparatively long time now, but as yet, there's nothing solid about replacements.
and
someone needs to point out that globally the PS3 is outselling the Xbox month on month.
Of course some people like to ONLY talk about NPD and pretend it's the global picture. TS to name one...
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