Does The Xbox One UK Price-Cut Spell Trouble For Microsoft?

While this comes as great news to those interested in purchasing an Xbox One, it certainly spells trouble for Microsoft.

[darthv72]

To be fair, when sony cut the price of the PS3 during its first year on the market... that certainly did not spell trouble for sony.

Cutting the price is done to spur sales but it also shows that the suits that decided on the initial asking price were wrong in their assessment that people would pay that price to begin with.

Some did but many others hold out until the price is appealing to them (as well as the selection of games increases).

It is not doom and gloom but simple market adjustments as is usually the case.

[Ballsack]

2 price drops within 2 months of each other is not the norm

And remember the first price drop was a result of the removal of kinect, the device ms touted that made the xbox one unique, the device the xbox one was supposedly built around!!

Ms are in trouble.

[Enemy]

Yep, this right here. They're clearly desperate.

[darthv72]

They are in sony's position last gen. Thinking they have a loyal fanbase that will pay the price when clearly the end result shows otherwise.

When sega dropped the price of the dreamcast after the PS2 launched...that was desperate because they were basically giving them away but people werent buying. And that was a real shame too because the DC is a great system.

The XB1 is a great system but cutting the price is not enough to ward off the stigma of the 'corporate' side of MS that was calling all the shots. Many will not buy simply out of spite and that is something that can be very hard to break.

i have never been one to hold a grudge against a platform because of the decision makers. i may be in the minority but....

[FlunkinMonkey]

They are NOT in the same position as Sony last gen..

The 360 released a year earlier, and the PS3 still outsold the 360 on a year by year basis.

These price cuts are only the tip of the iceberg from what MS has had to pull month in month out to no avail.

[FriedGoat]

Not to mention the PS3 was a more powerful machine than the 360.

[darthv72]

@flunkin... you seem to not remember the first year of the PS3 on the market. if you did then you would recall that sony not only cut the price (twice if i recall correctly) but also revised the system to adjust for those price cuts.

Yes it sold well but it did not sell to the market projections that sony expected. Each company has a projected sell through they make. basically an estimation on how many units they will sell within a specified time frame. Sony was lagging behind in their projection and that does not look good to the rest of the board members.

So they did what they felt was right in making cuts where they felt was appropriate. Such as the removal of the media reader and redesign of the system to have less USB ports. Nothing really dramatic (unless you want to count removal of the hardware BC) but they were all done to appease the board and save them $$ while at the same time boost overall sales of the unit (lower cost of production = lower cost to consumers).

MS is in that exact same position. They are not making their market projections and doing what they feel is needed to lower the cost to the consumer. Removing the kinect (well technically making a new SKU without kinect) and now lowering the price by $20 (sorry Im in the US) is just another test to see if consumers bite before they opt to make any further adjustments.

Oh, my bad, you only have the one bubble and cant directly respond. but i felt the need to express how similar the situations are from last gen (Sony/PS3) and this gen (MS/XB1).

[SoapShoes]

If this was Sega they'd be out of the race already.

[WilDRangeRfc]

MS>Sony lol MS in trouble it's not even close pal you worry about precious Sony

[DOMination-]

The ps3 only caught up in recent years. In its first year the console was a shambles. Sony really turned it around with some great games. I don't think MS will catch up because of the hardware issues but they do look like they will deliver more on the software front

[harrisk954]

The price cut doesn't "spell trouble" it means that the XB1 IS in trouble and MS is trying desperately to spur sales.

[ABizzel1]

No, because the XBO was actually selling well prior to the price cut, and was in 2nd place above 3DS and below PS4 in the UK charts for the last few months. This price cut is to simply boost sales in the UK (one of the places it's doing really good), and stop the PS4 from breaking away even further than it has.

In order to maximize profits MS needs to focus on the UK and US markets, and be the most competitive there and that's what they're trying to do. They're going to lose everywhere else that matters to the grand sales, and they're currently losing here, and most likely going to lose for the remainder of the generation, but if they keep the good will and image up then they can try again next-gen.

For them to stay competitive they need to make sure they're priced lower, and have the appropriate bundles every year for those 2 regions.

UK: Fifa, COD, Forza bundles
US: Halo, COD, Gear bundles

GTA bundles would help as well, but I see them siding with Sony again, especially with the sales difference.

Edit:

lol UK likes football (aka soccer), shooting, and cars. US like shooting, shooting, and shooting XD

[CKPan]

To be fair, when sony cut the price of the PS3 during its first year on the market... that certainly DID spell trouble for sony.

[annoyedgamer]

Cut price = Increase sales. This happens in all markets.

[Eonjay]

I think the idea is that you don't cut the price if the demand is there for it. I think they are trying to keep their marketshare from collapsing further.

[HappyWithOneBubble]

But even the Kinectless price drop didn't increase sales. UK don't like XB1 and PS4 sales prove that.

[Daz]

Its still 329 and 389 with kinect. Its not that cheap ;p

[jnemesh]

MS has been "in trouble" with the Xbox One in the UK since launch. The price cut is just them finally paying attention.

[Foehammer]

Liar

When the X1 launched it was the largest UK launch in history at the time.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/r...

[Eonjay]

For exactly one week, then they saw their marketshare plummet.

[WilDRangeRfc]

I know way more people with X1 than PS4 I'm in UK

[the_dark_one]

yes, they are doooooomed!!!! im telling you, dooooomed.

[GodGinrai]

Now, im an xbox guy (even though I also own a PS4). but reading that was funny because I imagined your avatar saying it with a shakespear, like accent. lol

[Paprika]

Microsoft? Not at all. Xbox as a brand? Boost, every penny counts.. but overall, not much tbh.

I say Microsoft, not at all... because Microsoft are bigger than simply Xbox, they could ditch Xbox entirely and still be huge let alone drop prices lol.

[Wikkid666]

MS makes huge amounts of money. Their profits from their core businesses are so high that they would still be making money if they decided to give the Xbox One away for free.

But they are in business to make money so that won't happen.

[Fkhalf16]

they should drop it to 299 if they are that loaded.

[MysticStrummer]

No. MS wants to boost sales and they can handle the price cut. It shows that they know they need to take more drastic measures, which for MS means making less profit.

[SteamPowered]

Yep, lock your doors and shoot the mailman, Xbox took a price cut.

[Gore-Content]

Oh absolutely. But they've been in tremendous trouble for month now.

[wynams]

yes, no doubt about it ... 2 cuts actually ... dropping the kinect and the MSRP drop in the UK.

grab 'em M$!

[Macdaddy71]

Don't start this shit!!! They just spent 2 billion dollars for a game, da,m.... Look at Sony all the money trouble they have n they just drop the price of the ps4 in UK also, so I'd that meaning Sony in trouble also???? Hell No...stop with all these forums already

[darthv72]

Sony didnt drop the price. The retailers did to be competitive to each other.

sony sells units to the retailers for an unspecified amount. They have an MSRP that retailers can use at their discretion. Unless the official word came from Sony (like it did with MS recently) then what you are seeing is retail reduction which only serves to cut into the retailers profit margin.

this is why you see varied prices from store to store. Sony doesnt pick and choose who can sell it for what $. That is for the suits at the stores to decide.

[jay2]

MS are clearly struggling, it's going to be the same until the end of this gen cycle with the stupid online stuff etc and the price raise from the ps4/360 being £430 for weaker hardware (Lets not forget PS3 was actually more powerful than most PC's and had Blu-ray so it's price was justifed) so yeah there's issues and stuggles. 3 times in 10 months is'nt good.

[RosweeSon]

£20 hardly but it's not enough to start shifting them anyway £299 might have got me interested but nah I'll still wait it out no rush this end

[RosweeSon]

But yeah it's really not enough still so far we've had £100 knocked off yet theyve taken Kinect out which on its own they were quoting a good £120-150 so I don't see how even now with this Kinect less bundle at £100 is a good deal shop around and you can find one with kinect and a game (titanfall) for barely £350/380 max and this Kinect less bundle for another £20 knocked off is a good deal?! I don't think so myself im sure some will just see it as £20 off Wahey but shop around you Prob could have got it at that price in places anyway, this is a no deal from me ;)

[unworldly]

This is because of the price discrepancy compared to mainland europe. They are paying €399, the euro has been getting weaker, £350 is nearly €450 so you would save yourself €50 to import it.

Now it makes it more reasonable compared to the euro.

[kingvendrick]

Nothing to do with desperation then lol. Over £100 off in less than 10 months.

Oh dear.

[Rick_Ross_Boss]

Don't regret buying a ps4 or xbox one