14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is claiming that sales of its Xbox 360 gaming consoles have doubled since a cut in prices was announced earlier in the month for the United States market. A Bloomberg report is cited, in which retailers say that they have seen a 100% increase in demand for all the models of the console, compared to the previous weekend.
The statement from Microsoft mentions that some of the console models saw sales increase by as much as 600% over the previous weekend but in typical Microsoft fashion, the company did not detail what consoles it was talking about. It did not offer any hard number regarding the increase in sales either, as the entire statement seems to be based on anecdotal evidence.
The biggest price cut was given to the Xbox 360 Arcade, which went from 279 $ to just 199$. This variant of the console, which has no hard drive, is now 50 dollars less expensive than the Nintendo Wii and it should be the one to get the biggest boost in sales. The Premium model of the console, the one that has a 60 GB hard drive included, went from $349 to $299, while the top of the line Xbox 360 Elite saw its price reduced from $449 to $399.
Analysts said that the price cut should enable Microsoft to sell some 20% more consoles than it usually does, but we won't know the exact effects until we have the NPD numbers for September, which means that we will have to take Microsoft's word for granted for about a month longer.
Japan has also seen a price cut, but the Xbox 360 has done poorly on that market since it was launched and no big jump in sales is expected. In Europe, Microsoft has not announced any pricing modification and there are no rumors that it plans to.