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posted by DC RID3R at 03:45 pm on 2007-05-25 |
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Report: Price Cuts Ahoy!
A lot of industry analysts are now speculating that Microsoft will be the first of the three next-gen console makers to start a price war by the end of the summer. According to analyst Todd Greenwald, Microsoft will drop the 360's price (all SKUs) by around $50. PS3, PS2 and PSP price cuts are more than likely to follow. This is where things start to get real interesting.
quote:
Nollenberger Capital Partners analyst Todd Greenwald has thrown his two cents in, predicting not only a price cut on PS3 this year, but also Xbox 360, PS2, and PSP. Nintendo hardware was not mentioned, but considering the rate at which the DS and Wii are both selling Mario and crew certainly don't need to slash the price on those platforms.
Greenwald expects that Microsoft will actually make the first move by the end of the summer. He believes that a $50 price cut on the 360 is on the way (across all SKUs), making the Xbox 360 Core SKU the exact same price as the Wii and the Pro SKU only $100 more than the Wii – potentially a more compelling value. "I don't think it would impact profitability much, as the component costs must have come down quite a bit by now (been in production for 18 months)," Greenwald commented to GameDaily BIZ. "Plus, they will make a lot of money off of Halo 3, obviously, and more and more software royalties as the installed base keeps growing."
Feeling the pressure from Microsoft's price drop during the summer and the continued success of the Wii, Sony is expected to "give in" around October and lower the PS3's price by $100. Greenwald also notes that this is perfect timing right in advance of the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV, which launches October 16. Greenwald said that leading publisher Electronic Arts stands to gain the most from a PS3 price drop this fall.
News source: gamedaily.com
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