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September 2015 NPD (U.S. Hardware) Predictions - Closes October 13th

I wasn't aware that shelf real estate was such a concern for them. They seem to have a pretty established presence at retail in the states. But you would know more about this than myself so I don't doubt it. It just seems like a round about and costly way to secure more retail presence to me. I can see that being a reason though.

To be clear, I have no first hand knowledge, and am only speculating.
 

Shenmue

Banned
To be clear, I have no first hand knowledge, and am only speculating.

Yeah I can't really think of a good reason either so your speculation definitely sounds like the most likely reason.

At the same time, Xbox One seems to have the most presence here of the 3 current gen consoles at the major stores, Best Buy, Target, Gamestop, Walmart. It always seems to have the most visible shelves and glass cases.

For example at Best Buys it's always the front facing shelf with the big TV display, whereas PS4 is on the display behind it.

At Target, Xbox One has the first shelf when you enter the gaming section from the front (the side furthest away from the wall of clearance and $19.99 player's choice type games).

At Walmart it has the first glass display when you enter the gaming section.

At Gamestop, it has the first display closest to the door and has the most wall space.

At least that's how it is where I live.

Anyone see it different where they live?
 

allan-bh

Member
I think these Xbox One bundles are great, more options for the consumer. I'm just surprised that Tomb Raider bundle is Best Buy (and MS Store) only. I thought MS would bet much more in this bundle on holidays.
 

Drac84

Member
As an outside observer, this holiday season in America is fascinating. The big question for me is what proportion of Halo players already own an Xbox One, and whether we find the accompanying bump in console sales to be somewhat muted as a result. I still think they'll get a big boost, but am interested to see if, like Titanfall, how much of a preaching to the converted element will be in play here.

Her XB1 predictions was not that bad, maybe a bit too optimist...
Her Wii U predictions was pretty damn close.

giphy.gif
 
Yeah I can't really think of a good reason either so your speculation definitely sounds like the most likely reason.

At the same time, Xbox One seems to have the most presence here of the 3 current gen consoles at the major stores, Best Buy, Target, Gamestop, Walmart. It always seems to have the most visible shelves and glass cases.

For example at Best Buys it's always the front facing shelf with the big TV display, whereas PS4 is on the display behind it.

At Target, Xbox One has the first shelf when you enter the gaming section from the front (the side furthest away from the wall of clearance and $19.99 player's choice type games).

At Walmart it has the first glass display when you enter the gaming section.

At Gamestop, it has the first display closest to the door and has the most wall space.

At least that's how it is where I live.

Anyone see it different where they live?

I don't see this anywhere, might just be a local thing to your stores, considering PS4 is the leading console I doubt Sony will get dwarfed in shelf space.
 

Boke1879

Member
I don't see this anywhere, might just be a local thing to your stores, considering PS4 is the leading console I doubt Sony will get dwarfed in shelf space.

I don't think PS4 will get dwarfed in shelf space. If anything it'll be even. Notice a lot of the MS bundles are retailer specific.
 

kyser73

Member
So will this be the first time that a potentially #1 sellling game - D:TTK - doesn't chart or charts a lot lower on NPD because of the ongoing failure to count digital sales?

I saw a few comments on the Media Create thread about UK sales being 16% of Destiny, but that the actual player count on the servers and various other stats pointed to far, far higher take up of the game.

I think that may be the big talking point in the NPD thread, especially if Activision release some internal sales data about DD.
 

allan-bh

Member
So will this be the first time that a potentially #1 sellling game - D:TTK - doesn't chart or charts a lot lower on NPD because of the ongoing failure to count digital sales?

I saw a few comments on the Media Create thread about UK sales being 16% of Destiny, but that the actual player count on the servers and various other stats pointed to far, far higher take up of the game.

I think that may be the big talking point in the NPD thread, especially if Activision release some internal sales data about DD.

The Taken King is an expansion, standalone sales of the DLC shouldn't be included in sales ranking of full games.
 
Do we know, or have an estimate, of how much the XBOX One costs to manufacture now, almost 2 years from launch? If they were breaking even at launch or making a small profit, they must be doing much better now.

From Phil Spencer Interview with IGN I posted this

Link

43:40 - Beginning of Interview

49:39 - Is XB1 profitable? (By his wording, it's still being sold at a loss)

53:16 - Xbox Slim/No Drive? (He said no to both)

56:10 - Xbox Elite
 

Three

Member
The 5 bundles are your price cuts.
I think they've overpriced those bundles deliberately. $399 for a TR bundle is more than the $350 we had for the similar AC bundle last year. The hdd shift will have no affect on them. They more than likely will slash the price in sales come the holidays but mostly because they overpriced these bundles to begin with so they can afford to do it. Like supermarkets putting the price up before a sale it gives the perception of value.
 

Conduit

Banned
I get what you're saying. But they're still cheaper than Sony and more importantly have more perceived value. That's what matters these days. Sure they could go under $300 but what is that actually going to do for the company, not much outside of shift a few extra units and lower margin.

My birthday goes on as long as I say it does!

Because MS have more bundles for Holidays?
 

RexNovis

Banned
To be clear, I have no first hand knowledge, and am only speculating.

Yes I'm aware. Sorry if my response made you think otherwise. I just meant you have more insight into that side of the industry than I do so you would know if something like shelf space would be a driving factor here
 

Conduit

Banned
From Phil Spencer Interview with IGN I posted this

43:40 - Beginning of Interview

49:39 - Is XB1 profitable? (By his wording, it's still being sold at a loss)

53:16 - Xbox Slim/No Drive? (He said no to both)

56:10 - Xbox Elite

And somebody expect price drop to 299$. I'll be surprised if they do this.
 

Ryng_tolu

Banned
Agreed with you on all fronts. November most likely decides December

In November 2010 the 360 has sold more than the Wii, but in December Wii has won by a huge margin ( ~500k )
Also in November 2009 360 has sold more than the PS3, but PS3 beat it in Decemner.

And PS4 won November 2013, but XB1 sold more in December.

Yeah, usually if a console wins November it wins even Decemner, but not always.


Haha!
Sorry, my English is terrible. :p
 
Microsoft just won't want to devalue the console further when this is their "strongest line up in Xbox history" and when they have the ability to create value around the bundles they're putting together.

Doesn't it also devalue the console a little if they are giving away most of the 'Greatest lineup in XBox history'? I don't see what bundling Halo, Forza or TR gets them; they could sell a solus console and those games would probably still be bought at full price.

I think they painted themselves into a very tricky corner with the price drops since last 'season'.

Haha!
Sorry, my English is terrible. :p

Your English is fine. It was funny though, I thought you were accidentally mixing up Aquamarine (sob) and Pachter (lol) in a single post.
 
Yea. Unofficially I can see stores selling the console for like $329 again during the holidays. But I just can't see MS dropping the price to $299. I would seriously question if they wanted this machine to be profitable at this point.

Fact is. They invested a ton of money into Kinect that's not pretty much useless going forward.

MS just needs to stay par for the course. Halo will sell Xboxs.

So after a whole year, you expect the price to be exactly the same at the same point 12 months ago?

What is the Xbone now, an antique that doesn't loose value? No, it's a tech product, it has lost value after 12 months. Customers will expect the XB1 to be $299 by now.
 

ZhugeEX

Banned
So after a whole year, you expect the price to be exactly the same at the same point 12 months ago?

What is the Xbone now, an antique that doesn't loose value? No, it's a tech product, it has lost value after 12 months. Customers will expect the XB1 to be $299 by now.

In that case the PS4 should be $299 by now.....

I think it's the other way around actually; all the price cuts and bundles have basically made people perceive the XBO as a console as being of much less value/prestige compared to PS4 and it can only hope to offset that with big bundles and cheap prices.

A PS4 w/ 2 bundled games and an XBO with two bundled games where the PS4 is just $50 more still creates better perceived value for the PS4 because of the tech advantage and its position in the global market. For the hardware alone they could go for $100 more but aren't; that's already value for cost-conscious shoppers.

Yes, a lot of damage has already been done. But you're looking at this from the point of view as an owner/someone who followed this last year.

The reality is that as long as the perceived cost of the console is lower then it's still going to sell units. $349 with a game or $399 with 3 games are still good deals this year. The first one aligns with last years bundle and the second one is much better value for customers who want games compared to last year.

Whilst price plays a huge part I've already outlined in previous posts why Microsoft won't be dropping the price.

Because MS have more bundles for Holidays?

No. Because $349 is cheaper than $399

Doesn't it also devalue the console a little if they are giving away most of the 'Greatest lineup in XBox history'? I don't see what bundling Halo, Forza or TR gets them; they could sell a solus console and those games would probably still be bought at full price.

I think they painted themselves into a very tricky corner with the price drops since last 'season.

Halo and Forza are limited edition consoles selling over $400. Tomb Raider bundle is just the AC bundle equivalent from last year.

They're hardly devaluing their line up at all. Majority of people aren't going to be buying these LE consoles during the holiday.
 
Yeah I can't really think of a good reason either so your speculation definitely sounds like the most likely reason.

At the same time, Xbox One seems to have the most presence here of the 3 current gen consoles at the major stores, Best Buy, Target, Gamestop, Walmart. It always seems to have the most visible shelves and glass cases.

For example at Best Buys it's always the front facing shelf with the big TV display, whereas PS4 is on the display behind it.

At Target, Xbox One has the first shelf when you enter the gaming section from the front (the side furthest away from the wall of clearance and $19.99 player's choice type games).

At Walmart it has the first glass display when you enter the gaming section.

At Gamestop, it has the first display closest to the door and has the most wall space.

At least that's how it is where I live.

Anyone see it different where they live?
I don't think that these premium displays are given out off goodwill from the stores. especially when the competition is selling better at higher pricepoint.
They rent these spaces. For money.
 
From Phil Spencer Interview with IGN I posted this


49:39 - Is XB1 profitable? (By his wording, it's still being sold at a loss)

that's a weird misleading interpretation from your side
he just dodged the question and said xbox as a whole business is very healthy

just wait for the 22. October to have a look at xbox performance
 

Elandyll

Banned
Imo the Lego and Kinect bundles alone pretty much guarantee a "temporary" price drop. That's the only way their existence makes any sense.

As per the way things are going right now, I can see MS losing all three months (baring a price cut that Sony would not match, which I'm pretty sure they will, and so is Phil ;). ).
 
[3DS] 90K
[PS4] 410K
[WIU] 45K
[XB1] 285K

CONJECTURE: 500G PS4 will have a price drop last week of October to roll into November strong with announced launch of 1T SKU in the US.
 
I never really follow NPD or get involved in these prediction topics, so these are complete guesses:

[3DS] 101k
[PS4] 384k
[WIU] 56k
[XB1] 298k



Holy shit; it sounds like they're still losing money on the Xbone?!

I thought that was obvious? he x1 is actually more expensive to make then ps4..they are in a hard position this gen.
 
I thought that was obvious? he x1 is actually more expensive to make then ps4..they are in a hard position this gen.

I'd never really thought about it. Assumed they'd saved enough by dropping Kinect + we're two years into the generation that they weren't still losing money per unit sold. That's absolutely crazy. Just reinforces my opinion that Nadella will axe the Xbox hardware division at the end of the gen. I don't think the brand will go away, but we're not getting any more Xbox consoles.
 
Definite leads for PS4 on both.

i suspect battlefield hardline was also in lead at the ps4 platform for your retailer and region?

what about the gap? bigger, smaller or nearly the same?
because different demographics and i would like to extrapolate to the whole market situation
 
I'd never really thought about it. Assumed they'd saved enough by dropping Kinect + we're two years into the generation that they weren't still losing money per unit sold. That's absolutely crazy. Just reinforces my opinion that Nadella will axe the Xbox hardware division at the end of the gen. I don't think the brand will go away, but we're not getting any more Xbox consoles.

When XB1 was $500 it cover the cost of kinect and made some extra profit.
When they drop the price by $100 it hurt them profit wise since kinect did not take them a $100 to make.
Either way with the amount of bundles ( with 3rd party games ) and semi price drop they had must really hurt the bottom line.
 
When XB1 was $500 it cover the cost of kinect and made some extra profit.
When they drop the price by $100 it hurt them profit wise since kinect did not take them a $100 to make.
Either way with the amount of bundles ( with 3rd party games ) and semi price drop they had must really hurt the bottom line.

I feel that even with the $100 price drop it was still at the very least breaking even. But then all bundles and deals starting last Holiday season must have surely pushed them into the red.
 

ZhugeEX

Banned
XBOX WON

$499 - Kinect bundle
$499 - LE Halo 5 bundle
$449 - LE Forza 5 bundle
$399 - Tomb Raider bundle
$399 - Gears of War, Rare Replay and Ori bundle
$399 - Fallout 4 bundle
$349 - Gears of War bundle
$349 - Lego Movie bundle
 

Loudninja

Member
Bundle fight!

1TB Console - Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Limited Edition Bundle $449
500GB Console - Destiny: The Taken King Limited Edition Bundle $399
500GB Console - Limited Edition Star Wars Battlefront Bundle $449
500GB Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Bundle $399
500GB Standard Edition Star Wars Battlefront PS4 Bundle: $399.99
500GB Limited Edition Disney Infinity 3.0: Star Wars PS4 Bundle $449
 

AP90

Member
And somebody expect price drop to 299$. I'll be surprised if they do this.

But MS has always made up the "loss" through accessory sales. And I believe there xbl subscription is break even after you have service maintenance, tech support and other cost related upkeep. IMO I do not think MS is taking that much of a loss on the actual console sale. By the time someone buys at least a second controller, a play and charge and/or start buying from there digital store they are doing fine.

Now losses from marketing, is prob a different story.
 
But MS has always made up the "loss" through accessory sales. And I believe there xbl subscription is break even after you have service maintenance, tech support and other cost related upkeep. IMO I do not think MS is taking that much of a loss on the actual console sale. By the time someone buys at least a second controller, a play and charge and/or start buying from there digital store they are doing fine.

Now losses from marketing, is prob a different story.

No they have not, Xbox has never gotten out of the red.
 

Raist

Banned
I think you may have thought I was kidding when I said that one of the reasons for the multiple bundles would be to increase presence at retail, assuming more bundles would equate to more facings on shelf at a GameStop or Best Buy.

I'm not kidding. I think having so many bundles is intended to increase retail presence and attract eyeballs in store while hoping to achieve more sales by casting a huge fishing net of bundle variety.

It's the only logical explanation I can come up with.

EDIT: To be clear, I'm only speculating and have no direct knowledge.

But I guess the question is, can retailers suddenly afford to give MS 4x the shelf space just because there's 4x more bundles? I'd assume they don't necessarily have that much leeway, no?
 

AP90

Member
No they have not, Xbox has never gotten out of the red.

I was not talking about the Xbox 360 RROD write off cost. And I am not even including Xbox og in this.

I am talking about the loss on selling the console at x price and making up the difference of the hardware through accessories.
 
XBOX WON

$499 - Kinect bundle
$499 - LE Halo 5 bundle
$449 - LE Forza 5 bundle
$399 - Tomb Raider bundle
$399 - Gears of War, Rare Replay and Ori bundle
$399 - Fallout 4 bundle
$349 - Gears of War bundle
$349 - Lego Movie bundle

Bundle fight!

1TB Console - Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Limited Edition Bundle $449
500GB Console - Destiny: The Taken King Limited Edition Bundle $399
500GB Console - Limited Edition Star Wars Battlefront Bundle $449
500GB Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Bundle $399
I think quality will win out over quantity in this scenario.
 

Fdkn

Member
The Taken King is an expansion, standalone sales of the DLC shouldn't be included in sales ranking of full games.

in the same vein, the retail release of TTK (and the digital legendary edition) are in reality more copies sold for the base game and they should be added to it, as we add every 'goty' or 'complete' edition to the original release numbers.
 
Bundle fight!

1TB Console - Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Limited Edition Bundle $449
500GB Console - Destiny: The Taken King Limited Edition Bundle $399
500GB Console - Limited Edition Star Wars Battlefront Bundle $449
500GB Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Bundle $399
500GB Standard Edition Star Wars Battlefront PS4 Bundle: $399.99
500GB Limited Edition Disney Infinity 3.0: Star Wars PS4 Bundle $449

Its always been strange to me that Sony has not started to release standard 1TB PS4s in the US yet, Europe has had them for months already. I know its easy to upgrade the harddrive, but at least their special edition PS4 should have 1TB.
 

Elandyll

Banned
XBOX WON

$499 - Kinect bundle
$499 - LE Halo 5 bundle
$449 - LE Forza 5 bundle
$399 - Tomb Raider bundle
$399 - Gears of War, Rare Replay and Ori bundle
$399 - Fallout 4 bundle
$349 - Gears of War bundle
$349 - Lego Movie bundle

Bundle fight!

1TB Console - Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Limited Edition Bundle $449
500GB Console - Destiny: The Taken King Limited Edition Bundle $399
500GB Console - Limited Edition Star Wars Battlefront Bundle $449
500GB Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Bundle $399
500GB Standard Edition Star Wars Battlefront PS4 Bundle: $399.99
500GB Limited Edition Disney Infinity 3.0: Star Wars PS4 Bundle $449

I think quality will win out over quantity in this scenario.

Well, what would be interesting would be to speculate according to four scenarios during the Holidays (Nov-Dec).

Please allow me to lay them down.

Scenario1: No Price Cuts Anywhere (aside for Black Friday)
Basically for the Holidays it's down to entry price Battlefront/ Uncharted bundles ($399) vs Gears of War / Lego bundles ($349).

Scenario 2: MS Price Cut $50, Sony does not (as unlikely as it is)
It's down to BF/ Uncharted @ $399 vs GeoW/ Lego @ $299

Scenario 3: Sony Price Cut $50, MS does not (unlikely)
It's now BF/ Uncharted @ $349 vs GeoW/ Lego @ $349

Scenario 4: Both do a $50 Price cut (most likely imo)
It's Battlefront/ Uncharted @ $349 vs GeoW/ Lego @ $299


Bonus round: Sony does a surprise $100 price cut, MS react with $50 price cut (very unlikely imo)
Battlefront / Uncharted @ $299 vs GeoW/ Lego @ $299

In my opinion:

1) - Sony win (not huge, but significant)
2) MS win, big time
3) Sony win, big time
4) Could perhaps go either way, but due to the sub-$300 attraction I'd give the lead to MS, but not as much as last year

Bonus round: Huge Sony win (again, not likely at this point at all to see a $100 drop)
 
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