Analyst: Pending 360 Price Cut Could 'Significantly Impact' Hardware Sales
According to UBS analyst Ben Schachter, Microsoft is going to cut the prices across their 360 hardware lineup next month in order to slow Sony's momentum.
by James Brightman on Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Last week a fairly strong rumor of another Xbox 360 price cut (across all SKUs) made waves across the web. UBS analyst Ben Schachter is now on board and believes this September will indeed see price cuts between $50 and $80 for all Xbox 360 hardware models.
"We expect MSFT to cut its lowest priced sku to $199, its mid-priced sku to $299, and its high-end sku to $399," he said. "If we are correct, it would position the Xbox 360's low-end sku as the lowest priced next-gen console (below Nintendo's Wii for the 1st time). Its high-end sku would be price-comparable to Sony's new $399 PS3 sku."
Assuming that Microsoft does issue a price cut, Schachter believes that the 360 hardware sales could see a "significant impact." He explained, "When MSFT cut prices on the Xbox 360 in Aug '07, total unit sales increased ~35% that month vs. its prior 7-month average in the U.S. acc. to NPD (though the release of Madden NFL 08 in the same month likely had impact). Overall, consoles have seen an average unit increase of ~53% in the month of/after a price cut."
Even if the price cut on Xbox 360 proves true, Schachter does not believe Sony will respond – unless PS3 sales suddenly suffer a good deal. "We believe any cut from MSFT aims to slow Sony's momentum before first-party PS3 releases in 2H'08 such as LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2, SOCOM, and others. MSFT has a decent slate w/Gears of War 2 as well as short-lived exclusivity for Rock Band 2 in late Sept. Sony is unlikely to cut in response, though, in the unlikely event that PS3 sales significantly slow, Sony might have to reassess," he said.
So langsam macht es sich bemerkbar, das Sony zu spät mit der PS3 gestartet ist... Hoffe zu Weihnachten stehen die ganzen PS3 nicht den MS und Nintendo-Kunden im Weg :shakehead3:
http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/n...ld-significantly-impact-hardware-sales/?biz=1
*zehn zeichen*
