2008 price drop for the X360: When? How much?

After reading some opinion pieces over at vgchartz, I'm curious as to what people feel this will be. We know its coming (particularly in light of the measly $50 cut in 2007), but when? And how much do you think it'll be this time. My take?

WHEN: I say its coming in late spring/early summer.

HOW MUCH: I say for the standard unit (the current $350 Pro model), it'll be a full $100 drop this time to $250. That being said, I see the Arcade being $200 and the Elite being $350 for the Elite. All of this can be confirmed or ruined by any introduction of a new SKU.

MS needs to distance itself signficantly from the lowest PS3 SKU price of $400 AND get closer (and possibly undercut) the price of the Wii, and both of those MUST happen this year or they are really, truly setting themself up for possibly being that 'middle system' in a bad way.

After reading some opinion pieces over at vgchartz, I'm curious as to what people feel this will be. We know its coming (particularly in light of the measly $50 cut in 2007), but when? And how much do you think it'll be this time. My take?

WHEN: I say its coming in late spring/early summer.

HOW MUCH: I say for the standard unit (the current $350 Pro model), it'll be a full $100 drop this time to $250. That being said, I see the Arcade being $200 and the Elite being $350 for the Elite. All of this can be confirmed or ruined by any introduction of a new SKU.

MS needs to distance itself signficantly from the lowest PS3 SKU price of $400 AND get closer (and possibly undercut) the price of the Wii, and both of those MUST happen this year or they are really, truly setting themself up for possibly being that 'middle system' in a bad way.

Darth_Tigris

their wont be a price drop, not if the rumors about a new 360 are true and they jsut had a price drop recently and they stick it to it. but what worries me is will they build a new 360 with a blueray player since blue ray is winning the highdef race then hddvd

[QUOTE="Darth_Tigris"]

After reading some opinion pieces over at vgchartz, I'm curious as to what people feel this will be. We know its coming (particularly in light of the measly $50 cut in 2007), but when? And how much do you think it'll be this time. My take?

WHEN: I say its coming in late spring/early summer.

HOW MUCH: I say for the standard unit (the current $350 Pro model), it'll be a full $100 drop this time to $250. That being said, I see the Arcade being $200 and the Elite being $350 for the Elite. All of this can be confirmed or ruined by any introduction of a new SKU.

MS needs to distance itself signficantly from the lowest PS3 SKU price of $400 AND get closer (and possibly undercut) the price of the Wii, and both of those MUST happen this year or they are really, truly setting themself up for possibly being that 'middle system' in a bad way.

resevl4rlz

their wont be a price drop, not if the rumors about a new 360 are true and they jsut had a price drop recently and they stick it to it. but what worries me is will they build a new 360 with a blueray player since blue ray is winning the highdef race then hddvd

why would there be a price cut? the thing is already inexpensive.

A pro with 2 games is 350.

I think there will be a small price cut yeah, but nothing to much.

As for the new xbox 360 coming out.. They aren't going to follow up one of there biggest years for games, by changing it.

Anyone who think they will doesn't understand business.

why would there be a price cut? the thing is already inexpensive.

A pro with 2 games is 350.

tommcruise

Several reasons that I can think of.

1) The 360 is NOT inexpensive. Sure, compared to a PS3 it is, but so is a Lexus compared to an Audi. MS has consistently talked about the importance of getting to a mass market price ($199 is what they stated) to really get sales going this gen. As much as they have talked about it, I would suspect a plan has been put into place to get them there by a certain timeframe.

2) The 360 was released in 11/05. It is now 1/08. Manufacturing cost have unquestionably come down significantly since then (I've read that the PS3 is around half of the rumored original cost to manufacturer now). That being the case, it would only make sense that MS has been positioning themselves for a price cut by reducing manufacturing costs.

3) The first price cut (which, for the record, came later in its respective lifespan than any other console before it) was a small price cut, timed for the release of Madden '08 in particular. With expected high console sales during the release of Madden and Halo 3, MS didn't HAVE to do a price cut. Packing the two games in the box, IIRC, was part of a holiday bundle. I don't know if it is something that will continue indefinitely. With the first price cut being so small, it would only make sense that a LARGER price cut was being planned. Another $20-50 price cut would just not move them close enough to that mass market price.

4) It is imperative that, during this year where the PS3 will receive some high profile titles, that MS distance itself price-wise from the PS3 and move much, MUCH closer to the Wii.

Well, those are my reasons (at least all I can think of right now). So that's where my $199 Arcade, $249 Pro and $349 Elite predictions came from. And the timing comes from GTA IV's expected release timeframe.

>4) It is imperative that, during this year where the PS3 will receive some high profile titles, that MS distance itself price-wise from the PS3 and move much, MUCH closer to the Wii.Darth_Tigris

[QUOTE="Darth_Tigris"]>4) It is imperative that, during this year where the PS3 will receive some high profile titles, that MS distance itself price-wise from the PS3 and move much, MUCH closer to the Wii.teebeenz

?

?Darth_Tigris

[QUOTE="Darth_Tigris"]?teebeenz

I still don't understand, why would Sony be in a better position to drop prices than MS????????????

I still don't understand, why would Sony be in a better position to drop prices than MS????????????Darth_Tigris

[QUOTE="Darth_Tigris"]I still don't understand, why would Sony be in a better position to drop prices than MS????????????teebeenz

Think you're a tad mixed up there. The 360 has been using the smaller, cheaper, cooler65nm chips since late summer. The next step was to get to 45nm chips by the end of 2008.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/xbox-360-65nm-chips-out-there-45nm-chips-in-the-future/

As for Sony's ability to drop the cost of manufacturing the PS3, it is still not profitable. They are at a point where they really cannot continue to drop it like they have during its first year. MS has not dropped its price signficantly AND has been manufacturing the 360 for longer than Sony has the PS3. So why wouldn't you think that MS would be in a BETTER position to drop their price significantly?

[QUOTE="Darth_Tigris"]I still don't understand, why would Sony be in a better position to drop prices than MS????????????teebeenz

are you high? sony droped the price because they HAD to. the ps3 did not sell as great as aspected. they are loosing ALOT of cash over the ps3 because it costed a fortune to build it. I give you one good reason. the blue ray player. that player alone costs as much as the rest of the console without it.

Bumping this because I honestly feel its a relevant topic.