The console's price point is its biggest enemy so far and might severely hinder sales

Aug 1, 2014 14:22 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft intends to bring the Xbox One to the huge Chinese market, hoping that the larger exposure would grant the company the boost it needs to catch up with the PlayStation 4, but the Redmond-based company seems to be shooting itself in the foot once again.

The biggest factor that might curtail sales of the company's next-gen computer entertainment system is the price point of the Xbox One, which will go for 3.7k Yuan / $600 / €446 in China, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. And this is for the new, much more marketable Xbox One SKU, that doesn't feature the Kinect sensor.

"Judging from the price, I don't think Microsoft cares much about Chinese consumers. Do they think the Chinese are rich and stupid?" says Alex, a user on social media site Sina Weibo.

The bad thing about this is that the Kinect-less version of the Xbox One goes for $400 / €298 in the United States, and for $436 / €325 in Hong Kong. The Chinese price point is only surpassed by the one in India, where the console currently goes for $665 / €496.

The worst thing about this is that Chinese consumers can always buy the console in Hong Kong or another country, and it would severely hamper Microsoft's efforts on the Chinese market.

This is on top of a recent poll finding the PlayStation 4 much more popular before the announcement of the Xbox One launch, and another one, conducted by Chinese technology news site Sina Tech, after the console's price was revealed, informing that 62 percent of the survey's respondents don't intend to purchase and Xbox One in China.