Microsoft might be unable to increase sales via traditional measures

Aug 9, 2014 16:49 GMT  ·  By

The Xbox One received its first price cut on all markets on which it was available in early June of this year, going from 499 dollars or Euro to 399 dollars or Euro, which is a significant reduction for a device that was only first offered in November of last year.

At the same time, the retail package for the next-gen device no longer featured the Kinect motion tracking system, which Microsoft suggested would be offered as a standalone to those interested at some point during the fall.

The major decision, almost unprecedented in the world of gaming hardware, has not delivered the results that were expected, and the Xbox One has failed to get ahead in terms of sales to the PlayStation 4 from Sony.

Since then Microsoft has tried to rely on content launches and on exclusivity deals in order to make its platform more attractive to gamers but the measures have once again had limited impact.

Now a rumor suggests that the company is getting ready to deliver another price cut for the device, which could soon be priced at 349.99 Euro or dollars.

No official announcement has been made yet but such a move would make sense for the Christmas period, when next-gen consoles are in high demand, so the company might implement the cut at some point in early December.

The only question is: can another price cut do anything to revive the fortunes of the Xbox One?

Of course, we will only find out the full answer once Microsoft actually implements the measure and an independent entity measures the change in sales, but I believe that for this generation the actual price is less important than it was for the Xbox 360, the Wii and the PlayStation 3.

Gamers are at the moment much more focused on features and on content and they want their consoles to stay on the cutting edge for as long as possible, not in actual power but in terms of what they can do with them.

The Xbox One has struggled to clearly define itself since it was announced, and Microsoft has made a number of strategic changes over the last year and a half which have troubled the community.

Simply making the device cheaper does not automatically earn back the trust of potential buyers and the company will be better served by making sure that the Xbox One becomes more attractive because of what it can do.