14 DAY TRIAL // Could another batch of console price cuts be in the early stages of preparation at both Microsoft and Sony? After all, both companies made it easier for interested customers to pick up the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 in late 2009, with Sony even putting out a new Slim model for the PS3. Some blame the price cuts for the fall in the value of sales of console seen in the first months of 2010.
Michael Pachter, the analyst working with Wedbush Morgan, has said “At a minimum, we anticipate the introduction of a more feature-packed Xbox 360 as the standard SKU in late 2010 (likely with a 250Gb hard drive) at the same $299 price point, and think that Microsoft will cut price before the fall only if it begins to lose significant market share to Sony.” But he believes that the more likely scenario involves a new Xbox 360 model which comes packed with both a 250 GB hard drive and the motion tracking Project Natal peripheral, with Sony keeping the price of the PlayStation 3 at the same level and maybe adding the new Move controller as part of a bundle.
The autumn season will be pretty heated in terms of console competition. Motion tracking seems to be the big ticket, with both Sony and Microsoft preparing solutions which will come out pretty near one to the other. The maker of the PlayStation 3 has also been talking about introducing full 3D gaming to its device and Nintendo must also be preparing a move to counter the encroachment into its motion tracking turf.
If in addition to introducing new hardware the big console makers are also reducing the price tag for their device, we might see a late 2010 which soundly beats 2009 in terms of sales. On the other hand, there's the problem that lower prices will actually reduce the revenue and profit of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.