Ben-Dutka"It's only temporary."
It's what all PlayStation fans have been saying ever since Microsoft announced they'd be dropping the price of the Xbox One by $50 for the holiday rush.
And it's true; the price cut is indeed only temporary, as Microsoft plans to bring their new system back to the original $399 price point on January 4, 2015. The big question is this: Will the move result in a fresh upswing in sales for Sony's console? The PlayStation 4 dominated all the way up until that Xbox One price drop, so perhaps it stands to reason that this domination will return to force. On the other hand, recent PSN issues and the lack of AAA PS4 exclusives this holiday season have had an impact.
On the flip side, at least Xbox One had games like Sunset Overdrive and Halo: The Master Chief Collection , which definitely sweetened the deal for gamers. Having a bunch of cool holiday bundles helped as well. Going into 2015, one could easily argue that Microsoft has the momentum and despite the return to $399, that momentum will continue. But will it…? Perhaps Microsoft should consider leaving Xbox One at the $349 price point, although we know it'd cost them an arm and a leg to do so. At the very least, it makes the console war that much more exciting.
I also wonder what Sony thinks. Are they hoping Xbox One goes back to $399 so PS4 can reclaim its momentum? Price is a hugely important factor, a lesson we learn and relearn every time we see a price cut on new gaming hardware.
I think the network thing is a bit overblown. Right now this isn't anything like the problem we had a few years back.
I just wonder if MS will move to lower the price of the XO permanently. While that may seem like the best idea the problem then turns into a game of cat and mouse. If anyone remembers, the PS2 and original Xbox played this game. MS foolishly cut the price of their Xbox so deep to stay competitive with Sony they ended up having to quickly abandon the Xbox because every unit was costing them big money. The Xbox was simply a lot more expensive to produce at the time.
Right now, there's the balancing act of meeting consumer demand without incurring more loss than needed. Why sell a console to the target market for $350 when 90% of that same audience would spend $400? Those sort of questions are obviously looked at by either company.
I don't know what to expect.
Sony isn't hurting as bad for thickening out the PS4's ecosystem. MS is with XO though. So while MS may be desperate to deepen the XO's base, Sony may not be willing to sacrifice money to meet MS at their level just yet. Afterall, Sony has had about a year of beating MS in quadruple to double the units in monthly sales advantage of most of this last year. It'll take MS a good long time of constant monthly wins to close any kind of gap.
Anyway. I suppose a big part of it is determined by what hardware costs are right now for the manufacturers. As production yields increase, parts usually go down in price. So who knows. This next year might be bloody.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/30/2014 1:13:37 AM
Xbox 360 was losing 1-2 hundred bucks for each console at launch while ps3 loses 2-3 hundred. Near the end xbox 360 was very profitable. So that 50 dollar pricecut is nothing to either company.
Its a matter if sony will cut price to stay competitive. Microsoft is into market share, sony is into profitability. I forsee sony is willing to keep 399 to remain maximize profit.
I think if Sony can sell 5 console for 10 billion each, they would rather lose the lead because the Sony itself is going into bankruptcy
hey, where did you get that info about 360 losing that much?
The reason I ask is because when I read about the first Xbox bleeding MS major money it was from an interview with Peter Moore. The then Xbox head. He made no mention of the 360 being as much of a money sink, and it wouldn't make sense to escape the Xbox to jump into Xbox 360 incurring a similar loss. (another motivating factor was to get a head start on the next-gen. revealed by him from the same article)
Sony on the other hand was better off back then and was wanting to win a movie format war with the PS3. The PS3 was full of exotic tech. The 360 on the other hand was not. Hence another reason why I doubt the 360 was bleeding MS as much as you say (that eventually happened though with the RRoD disaster)
And I'm pretty certain the general rule of thumb is to sell the hardware as close to cost as possible. Sony sacrificed a lot because they had an agenda to proliferate the market with Cell processors and Blu Ray players. The PS3 was to be their trojan horse. The Cell failed. Blu Ray suceeded.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/30/2014 11:10:28 AM
You're right that it's overblown but it reminds people of the 2011 hack that actually saw CC details stolen. I can't tell you how many people on Twitter thought this was the same kind of attack. No real damage to consumers but still damaging to Sony's reputation non the less.
I read it somewhere, maybe that was RROD fix added to the cost.
I'm just thinking what will the Xbox One have to offer beyond the price lift. Does Microsoft have any exclusives next year? Halo 5 is the only one that springs to mind. But the series has sort of taken a back seat to CoD last gen really and I imagine around the same time the PS4 will get PS4.
Nothing until the fall it looks like. But a solid lineup nonetheless, I'm predicting something along these lines: Quantum Break (August/Sept), Forza 6 (unannounced but predictable), Rise of the Tomb Raider (october), and Halo 5(Nov)
First of all, I think sunset overdrive and halo collection bundles arent the driving factors for the Xbox one sales. It was the the assassin bundles for 329. This bundle caught up with all the lost sales in Amazon.com for the entire year and selling neck to neck with ps4 in annual sales.
Only time ps4 kept up with this bundle was during black Friday the gta and Lou bundle, unfortunately its only available for 2 days. So through consumer eyes, the value of ps4 vs Xbox was around 70 bucks of value.
Theres no doubt when both are 399, ps4 will be on top again. The real question is, will ps4 continue to sell bundles for 449 while xbox sell two game bundles for 399. This way, ps4 wil definitely lose USA and UK.
Based on the only estimated numbers I have seen, PS4 still outsold the XB1 worldwide over the past two months.
If anything, Microsoft was competitive with Sony, nothing more, nothing less.
XO has no chance of winning globally. Right now it's all about the US.
I agree that the XB1 will never catch the PS4 on the global scale.
Sony knows this, and Microsoft is well aware of it.
Honestly, I think the only ones who will hang on the US sales (even if the PS4 loses here)will be the XB1 fans, Microsoft itself, and doomsayers.
The $50 May or may not affect PS4 sales. going into the "slower" videogame season, both companies can increase sales with enticing bundles. At this point Microsoft probably should keep the ones currently offered. Sony can look into doing something with Bloodborne and The Order
Meh, $50 cheaper, first year out. Why was the M$ loyal fans happy about that?
yeah its really hard to say for shore i think it could defintely swing either way and i mean if sony droped their price a bit that wouldn't hurt but i think what happens after the price goes back to $399 is anyones guess atm
happy gaming