I was reading this post and a slightly more excitable version here which stem from comments from a Mindy Mount (CFO of the MS Entertainment divsion) which may indicate a 10 year plan from Microsoft. The original Gamsutra post has gone but this post pretty covers the content.
The key quote is this one which has maybe been overplayed.
"It's a great milestone for us, but it's still only a start, when you consider that history shows that more than three-fourths of a console's sales come at a price of $199 or lower"
For my tuppence worth I think Mindy Mount is just repeating marketing statements and this is not a statement of direction. Still she must of understood how this would of been interpreted.
2
The key quote is this one which has maybe been overplayed.
"It's a great milestone for us, but it's still only a start, when you
consider that history shows that more than three-fourths of a
console's sales come at a price of $199 or lower"
For my tuppence worth I think Mindy Mount is just repeating marketing statements and this is not a statement of direction. Still she must of understood how this would of been interpreted.