As far as Microsoft are concerned, It seems to be pretty much confirmed they are going to drop the Pro model and cut the Elite to it's price to compete with the $299 PS3. Whether they go lower than that and/or cut the price of the Arcade remains to be seen. I'm not sure they will. Bundles are a cert though.
Microsoft seem to be content with plodding along and soaking up what sales they can get at $199 without investing too much, presumably with an eye on Natal and 2010. I really don't see much overlap between the cost conscious consumers who will be looking to pick up a $199 Arcade and those who will be excited to pick up a PS3 at $299 so in a sense there might not be much point in them cutting prices because PS3 is going to get a significant end of year uplift anyway and Microsoft's growth area is likely at the $199 level where they will already be $100 cheaper.
The Wii by far is going to have the toughest compares this holiday and it's unclear if they are going to do anything to keep sales at their previous crazy level. It may well turn out that things are pretty equal between all three when all is said and done.
1
Sure ok, how about we leave it at that? :-)
@welshbloke / @Joe80
As far as Microsoft are concerned, It seems to be pretty much confirmed they are going to drop the Pro model and cut the Elite to it's price to compete with the $299 PS3. Whether they go lower than that and/or cut the price of the Arcade remains to be seen. I'm not sure they will. Bundles are a cert though.
Microsoft seem to be content with plodding along and soaking up what sales they can get at $199 without investing too much, presumably with an eye on Natal and 2010. I really don't see much overlap between the cost conscious consumers who will be looking to pick up a $199 Arcade and those who will be excited to pick up a PS3 at $299 so in a sense there might not be much point in them cutting prices because PS3 is going to get a significant end of year uplift anyway and Microsoft's growth area is likely at the $199 level where they will already be $100 cheaper.
The Wii by far is going to have the toughest compares this holiday and it's unclear if they are going to do anything to keep sales at their previous crazy level. It may well turn out that things are pretty equal between all three when all is said and done.