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[MrCookiepants]

- No one was buying them at $399
- Price goes down to $349, people start buying
- Microsoft raises price back to $399 despite sales at said price point being abysmal

You guys honestly think $50 is gonna decide the console war? Price drops provide temporary spikes. If PS4 was selling more when they were both $399, then it will sell more at any price point.

Sony still have the price drop card to pull whenever they need it. MS has already blown their load. If Xbone goes back down to $350 later on, it's not going to have the same effect as it did the first time.

 

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

You guys honestly think $50 is gonna decide the console war? Price drops provide temporary spikes. If PS4 was selling more when they were both $399, then it will sell more at any price point.

Sony still have the price drop card to pull whenever they need it. MS has already blown their load. If Xbone goes back down to $350 later on, it's not going to have the same effect as it did the first time.

As I tried to argue earlier, it is actually worse than that; by going back to full price, MS has set the expectation, if not the entitlement, for another firesale next year. MS didn't just weaken a future price cut; the next price cut might well be met with exclamations of "about time! Is that all? I expected more".

 

[Welfare]

- No one was buying them at $399
- Price goes down to $349, people start buying
- Microsoft raises price back to $399 despite sales at said price point being abysmal

Meh, from June to October, excluding September as that had the free game bundle, the average monthly sales were ~160k. That jumps to ~190k if you include September.

Compare that to $499, where, if you exclude March (Titanfall bundle), you get ~150k sales as an average, and then ~180k sales when you include March.

People were buying it at $399, just not as much as the PS4.

 

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

People WERE buying at $399, that is true.

But would they still buy at 399, if they have very good reason to believe there will be a guaranteed 50 dollar price cut minimum in Nov of 2015?

 

[StoppedInTracks]

Dumbfuck move.

Watch it go back to $350 during E3.

 

[TomShoe]

Watch it go back to $350 during E3.

"Due to overwhelming consumer demand..."

 

[family_guy]

A free year of Live would be just as effective without setting them back nearly as much IMO.

 

[Doug Heffernan]

They will drop the price again when they get obliterated by Sony when Bloodborne comes out.

I don't know about that. lol

 

[zomgbbqftw]

I think when Sony cuts the price of the PS4 it will be $299 but I highly doubt it will be next year, I'm thinking 2016. 2015 game library is crazy not to mention their indie support. If I were Sony I'd offer a better sku at the same price point. PS4 1TB hdd + bundled game for $399.

They will press their advantage just like they did with PS2 and there was basically no competition when they lowered the price to $199 and it was still selling like crazy, yet they still went for it.

well is just my guessing, those were better times for sony and also because they seem to maximize their profits. not that i wouldnt mind, i could finally buy my white ps4 and sell my launch unit.

Maximising profit means getting as many units into consumers' hands as quickly as possible. Gaming is now a service and the hardware is a gateway to it. The earlier they get people to buy PS4s the more revenue they can make from licencing and PS+ over the life of the console. If, as I believe, Sony can cut costs enough to break even at $299 MSRP then they will do it regardless of what price Xbox One is because the long term model depends on getting a large installed base as quickly as possible rather than maximising hardware profits in the short term.

Also, while the headline figures for Sony are bad, the underlying picture is not too bad, sacrificing the long term vision for PlayStation for short term gain wouldn't make sense. Sony still generates a lot of cash so they are still basically a healthy company.

 

[AlimNassor]

Theres no reason to buy an X1 now. They were going as low as $300 a few weeks ago and came with several free games.

 

[ShapeGSX]

Theres no reason to buy an X1 now. They were going as low as $300 a few weeks ago and came with several free games.

PS4s were on sale, too, with free games. I guess there is no reason to buy PS4s, either. Everybody will buy Wii u's instead.

 

[The Last One]

People knew from the beginning that Xbox one's price would be $400 again, that probably made many people rush with their console purchase. I wonder if the One will sell worse than Last year, even when it was $500.

 

[Steverulez]

Dumbfuck move.

Watch it go back to $350 during E3.

Nobody does price drops at E3, for the worst selling months of the year.

They'll either do it late Feb (for marketing for Evolve) so they get some upturn in March/April or they will wait until the holidays.

 

[Welfare]

Nobody does price drops at E3, for the worst selling months of the year.

They'll either do it late Feb (for marketing for Evolve) so they get some upturn in March/April or they will wait until the holidays.

Or late January.

 

[Steverulez]

Or late January.

Well they could, but if they're not going to do it for the start of January then they might as well wait for Evolve which will presumably get a marketing push with a bundle

 

[Portugeezer]

This seems like such a massive mistake. Wouldn't most people just wait for the price to go down again during the fall before purchasing? Or am I giving consumers to much credit?

Especially with nothing big coming out on the XB1 early 2015... Witcher 3 got delayed till May for which they have a marketing deal.

 

[tilomite]

Is this pricing strategy unprecedented? I think it's weird to raise the price after a months long cut.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

Wow another Xbox thread full of doom and gloom. How surprising.

It was always temporary. Sales will drop off in januarary anyway. Extremely price conscious consumers will wait till next falls sales anyway.

Not sure why this needs so much debate.

 

[Papacheeks]

Wow another Xbox thread full of doom and gloom. How surprising.

It was always temporary. Sales will drop off in januarary anyway. Extremely price conscious consumers will wait till next falls sales anyway.

Not sure why this needs so much debate.

Because up till that point again next year, Microsoft is going to have an even harder 10 month's of being outsold by it's competition.

 

[kswiston]

Nobody does price drops at E3, for the worst selling months of the year.

They'll either do it late Feb (for marketing for Evolve) so they get some upturn in March/April or they will wait until the holidays.

All of Xbox 360's permanent price cuts were in August and September.

 

[RBK]

I think that within a few months, the sales gap between the two consoles will be larger than ever.

Even if all else was equal, the PS4 being much more popular at a baseline level and the Xbox One's anemic release schedule for most of the year in comparison to the more popular machine is most likely going to play a significant factor in wiping out whatever momentum the Xbox One may or may not have gained in November.

I think you're speaking on the LTD sales, not the monthly sales difference.

 

[RadarScope1]

Or late January.

We've seen this a few times in the thread. Someone even said they would raise the price for all of a single day just so they could "make good" on their stated plan and then drop it right back. C'mon now. None of that's going to happen. As noted a few posts above, every X360 price cut happened in late summer. Sony and MS nearly always do the same IRCC.

As I tried to argue earlier, it is actually worse than that; by going back to full price, MS has set the expectation, if not the entitlement, for another firesale next year. MS didn't just weaken a future price cut; the next price cut might well be met with exclamations of "about time! Is that all? I expected more".

This post nails it. At least as far as people on this board and the comments sections of gaming websites everywhere, $350 is now the "expected" price.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

The right thing to do I feel. They pitched the price drop during the holidays as a limited time thing to try and get people off the fence earlier than they might have. Becomes an interesting question if the system would have sold the same volume during holidays had the price drop been positioned as permanent. Because then people might have put their money elsewhere knowing they could just get the Xbone at the same price later.

Would be disingenuous to try and do both by taking a temporary price drop and making it permanent.

 

[Papacheeks]

I think you're speaking on the LTD sales, not the monthly sales difference.

I don't think you understand that Sony outsold them in units every month leading up till Nov-Dec.

And what Percy was saying was that MS doesn't have the front loaded lineup of games to fall back on to help push consoles for most of 2015. Sony has a spread out release schedule that will help push console sales in the month's that usually are stagnate.

Also add that the will per region have different bundles for The order and BloodBourne.

Microsoft made a 50/50 decision to go that low in price so soon for 2 months rather than a week like most companies do for Black Friday.

Doing so shows you have no faith in your product at it's suggested MSRP. Which makes buyer's just want to wait for when there's a sale.

Tablet's are a good example of things like this happening.

The big difference is those tablet companies mostly don't have ea brand issue that MS has had since it's launch of the system.

"It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation".

 

[OsirisBlack]

Raising the price seems like an odd move we will see if the numerous bundles and price cuts have devalued their product.

 

[RBK]

I understand it, but PS4 had a larger install base and for the most post still does. A increase to the XB1 ecosystem can only be beneficial.

Rather wait and see the effect that games like the Order and Bloodborne have for sales. No doubt it'll help, but we're not going to see the increase like Destiny had on the system.

 

[Woo-Fu]

TBH january,february are dead months for console sales. So as well they can rise the price for few months and lower it later.

If they're dead months then raising the price doesn't do anything other than make them even deader and give your channel partners headaches.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

Raising the price seems like an odd move we will see if the numerous bundles and price cuts have devalued their product.

MS had already done a good (bad?) job at training people to wait for bundles prior to the holidays so yes I do think the holiday sales and prior 2014 bundles have devalued the console (perhaps the PS4 to some extent as well), but more importantly the general public is well aware at this point that another bundle/sale will happen for Xbone. Matter of when not if, and sooner rather than later.

 

[Asd202]

People WERE buying at $399, that is true.

But would they still buy at 399, if they have very good reason to believe there will be a guaranteed 50 dollar price cut minimum in Nov of 2015?

Exactly, value perception of Xbone has changed.

 

[vesvci]

They'll probably drop it again in February/March just so consumers don't feel like they were part of a Bait-n-Switch. Plus, THE PS4 exclusives come out around that time.

Maybe another set of bundles as people get their Tax Refunds?

 

[MeachTheMonster]

Because up till that point again next year, Microsoft is going to have an even harder 10 month's of being outsold by it's competition.

You got a crystal ball?

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

They'll probably drop it again in February/March just so consumers don't feel like they were part of a Bait-n-Switch. Plus, THE PS4 exclusives come out around that time.

Maybe another set of bundles as people get their Tax Refunds?

They'll likely have an Evolve bundle at $399. If the price goes back to $399 I don't think it will drop again until a more permanent drop is announced.

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

The issue isn't the price cut alone, it is the whiplash from going down to the extreme bargain that it was, then bounce right back to the old price.

There are two ways to do temp price cuts safely; either don't make the discount too large, so the restoration of the old price isn't that much of a disappointment, or offer a lesser price cut permanently at the end, so the customers don't feel as much pain for missing out on the bargain. This is about preventing too many people deciding to wait 10 months to get anoother chance to get the discount t price.

There is a reason normally you schedule a permanent price cut just before the end of the year; that's when you have the most impact. But temporary discounts are not easy to do.

Just one more thing: I just have to say that Microsoft in this case have definitely done everything above board. They offered a discount, and told everyone that it is only for the holidays. And now they are retracting it as promised. And yet, they have committed Marketing Sin. They are going to suffer for it, and in this case I have to say they don't deserve the pain that is going to come because of it. But marketing is a cruel mistress.

Well, yeah...true words, but had they stuck w/ the holiday offers from here on it may've been perceived as anti-competitive practices and that stuff can go to court. In many ways MS doesn't have a choice in this.

 

[vesvci]

They'll likely have an Evolve bundle at $399. If the price goes back to $399 I don't think it will drop again until a more permanent drop is announced.

I agree. I highly doubt they'll keep the $399 price tag very long. Unless, they bled out too much money in November/December.

 

[OsirisBlack]

MS had already done a good (bad?) job at training people to wait for bundles prior to the holidays so yes I do think the holiday sales and prior 2014 bundles have devalued the console (perhaps the PS4 to some extent as well), but more importantly the general public is well aware at this point that another bundle/sale will happen for Xbone. Matter of when not if, and sooner rather than later.

True, This holiday season was pretty telling what price does for a console though. The Gamestop I work at sold 300+ XB1s the damn day before Christmas and another 200 the day after which is absolutely ridiculous. We sold roughly half that number of PS4's but the funny thing is it was the exact opposite at local Walmart's and Target. The price cut helped them more than the general public is probably aware but I wonder if they took a loss getting those units out. That in my opinion is the real news if this was profitable I would imagine them keeping the price at $350 with no games bundled.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

Well, yeah...true words, but had they stuck w/ the holiday offers from here on it may've been perceived as anti-competitive practices and that stuff can go to court. In many ways MS doesn't have a choice in this.

That was my earlier point. To temporarily drop the price and essentially say better act fast and drawing in buyers that may not have bought it so soon and then keep it at that price is having the cake and eating it too.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

I think people are giving the price cut too much credit, while ignoring other factors that may have contributed to the sales hike.

First off Americans but a lot of shit for Christmas. Even without the price cut there would have been a sales hike, and if they had come with the price drop at another time, then they would not have gotten the spike they got. There were really good deals a couple times throught the year and they still lost to PS4.

Second there was a great Christmas lineup of games. Games that would make Xbox fans that hadn't jumped in yet, take the plunge.

I think there are two types of consumers at play here.

The enthusiast. They arent influnced by price much. And they jump in as soon as they feel they have a compelling reason. PS4 is the more popular console in this space, which is why it sold very good all year.

The casual/family buyer. Will wait and look for deals, no rush to jump in. The Xbox is more popular in this space. Which is why we saw the huge sales spike at the end of the year.

Re-setting the price for the slow months won't have much of an effect on either group. Casuals will wait for Christmas and the new COD. Enthusiasts will buy whichever system they want regardless of price.

I think they stand to gain more by announcing this and creating a rush to go out and buy before the price goes back up, then they would by leaving the price where it is.

 

[Papacheeks]

You got a crystal ball?

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see MS has very little for release schedule in first part of 2015, and only game I see them having a big push for that they have marketing deal with is Evolve. Maybe they will partner with Hardline, but that game will be dead on arrival in terms of sales.

It doesn't take a genius to see that they had issues selling their box even at 399. It took 50 dollars off plus bundled free games and retailer specific freebies to entice people to jump in on xbox.

Even so the games they promoted heavily had issues, ACU was really bad, and MCC couldn't be played online for most of it's release leading up till Christmas with Lizard Squad being grinches.

Now the new year is getting ready to start, and we have Dying Light, Evolve, The order for first 2 months. Then Bloodbourne MLB:the show, The witcher 3.

I don't think Microsoft is going to bundle any game besides Evolve with their system. And at 399 people will gladly wait for another fire sale or a permanent price drop in summer.

The competition doesn't have brand issues like MS does, nor does it have issues running most Third party games at desired resolutions which is more known now than it was last gen.

Like other's have stated they have an even bigger up hill battle in the next 10 months compared to 2014. ANd that's mainly because a lot of Sony's games got pushed to 2015.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see MS has very little for release schedule in first part of 2015, and only game I see them having a big push for that they have marketing deal with is Evolve. Maybe they will partner with Hardline, but that game will be dead on arrival in terms of sales.

It doesn't take a genius to see that they had issues selling their box even at 399. It took 50 dollars off plus bundled free games and retailer specific freebies to entice people to jump in on xbox.

Even so the games they promoted heavily had issues, ACU was really bad, and MCC couldn't be played online for most of it's release leading up till Christmas with Lizard Squad being grinches.

Now the new year is getting ready to start, and we have Dying Light, Evolve, The order for first 2 months. Then Bloodbourne MLB:the show, The witcher 3.

I don't think Microsoft is going to bundle any game besides Evolve with their system. And at 399 people will gladly wait for another fire sale or a permanent price drop in summer.

The competition doesn't have brand issues like MS does, nor does it have issues running most Third party games at desired resolutions which is more known now than it was last gen.

Like other's have stated they have an even bigger up hill battle in the next 10 months compared to 2014. ANd that's mainly because a lot of Sony's games got pushed to 2015.

Lotta skewed opinions here, there's no point in arguing them. But anyone claiming to know exactly what will happen is only projecting what they WANT to happen.

 

[Goodacre0081]

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see MS has very little for release schedule in first part of 2015, and only game I see them having a big push for that they have marketing deal with is Evolve. Maybe they will partner with Hardline, but that game will be dead on arrival in terms of sales.

It doesn't take a genius to see that they had issues selling their box even at 399. It took 50 dollars off plus bundled free games and retailer specific freebies to entice people to jump in on xbox.

Even so the games they promoted heavily had issues, ACU was really bad, and MCC couldn't be played online for most of it's release leading up till Christmas with Lizard Squad being grinches.

Now the new year is getting ready to start, and we have Dying Light, Evolve, The order for first 2 months. Then Bloodbourne MLB:the show, The witcher 3.

I don't think Microsoft is going to bundle any game besides Evolve with their system. And at 399 people will gladly wait for another fire sale or a permanent price drop in summer.

The competition doesn't have brand issues like MS does, nor does it have issues running most Third party games at desired resolutions which is more known now than it was last gen.

Like other's have stated they have an even bigger up hill battle in the next 10 months compared to 2014. ANd that's mainly because a lot of Sony's games got pushed to 2015.

pretty sure EA and Sony have a deal with Hardline. the only other two bundles I can see are Evolve and Witcher 3, and with CDPR delaying the game it might have fucked over MS if they had a bundle lined up for that game instead of Evolve.

 

[Papacheeks]

Lotta skewed opinions here, there's no point in arguing them. But anyone claiming to know exactly what will happen is only projecting what they WANT to happen.

So I'll ask nice, why was Microsoft getting spanked for 10 months in a row this year? They released more First party games than Sony but up till November were getting beat every month even with the price cut to 399?

Why are there less released Indie games on Xbox?

Why are their digital sales for games like exclusives D4 not doing well?

Why did they have to drop the price to 350, and for black friday 329?
Why were they taking trade in's on PS3;s in their own Microsoft store?

Answer these and maybe people will stop arguing with your outlook.

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

That was my earlier point. To temporarily drop the price and essentially say better act fast and drawing in buyers that may not have bought it so soon and then keep it at that price is having the cake and eating it too.

Well, that part is a bit disingenuous, more like what you see Haynes do all the time and not commonplace with gaming. Personally I don't like it, but...there's nothing technically wrong with it legally.

My feeling tho is that by keeping it at $350 w/ all those deals from here on would be anti-competitive due to simply using their financial status to tank the losses and bury out competition simply by selling at prices their competitors can't w/o going into deep red. Should clarify that by saying NOT price-fixing. I don't think they're price-fixing anything even if they did that.

It's about the role of how much money plays into competition, or how much it should. If MS were to do the same to a complete unknown upstart for example, I'd see nothing honorable in it. Just because it can be done, doesn't mean it should.

 

[miDnIghtEr20C]

They said from the start of the sale that it was temporary. Not surprised by this at all.

So I'll ask nice, why was Microsoft getting spanked for 10 months in a row this year?

MS won over 24 months in a row last gen and the Playstation 3 ended up just fine and the 4 even better.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

So I'll ask nice, why was Microsoft getting spanked for 10 months in a row this year? They released for First party games than Sony but up till November were getting beat every month even with the price cut to 399?

For a multitude of reasons. Price being one. And I wouldn't call it "spanked" if they were able to make up the deficit in a mere two months. PS4 sold great, but the idea that Xbox was not selling well is just not true. Historically it was selling about what Xbox always has through the slow months.

The other big reason is momentum. There's no question that ps4 had more momentum stemming from E3 2013

Why are there less released Indie games on Xbox?

Not sure what this has to do with the price of Xbox

Why are their digital sales for games like exclusives D4 not doing well?

There have been digital sales for EVERY exclusive game on either system. Again I'm not sure what this to do with Xbox console price drops.

Why did they have to drop the price to 350, and for black friday 329?

Why did Sony or every other company under the sun have Black Friday deals?

Why were they taking trade in's on PS3;s in their own Microsoft store?

To drum up sales for their product.

Answer these and maybe people will stop arguing with your outlook.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loaded_question

This is all you've done here

 

[rothbart]

"Due to overwhelming consumer demand..."

You know, there are so many problems with this logic but it's completely and utterly believable. What "consumer" is demanding a price cut? Consumers that haven't bought one yet? How do you know they're demanding it? Because they haven't bought one? The consumers you have the best relationship and information on are the ones that have already bought one but how many consumers buy more than one? I'd guess not many. It's the kind of statement that will go unquestioned if said in the context of a press conference but instead of a company feeling like embracing their customers, it's really closer to a sign of sales lagging and needing a boost. I personally don't understand why these companies (that know damned well which systems I already own) keep blasting me with messaging about how exciting the new color, new price, new whatever are... sorry guys, I've already bought a system. Your message is lost on me...

While I like low prices as much as the next guy, I just wanted to comment how believable (yet ironically backed) a statement like this would be...

 

[Biggu Bosu]

I literally stole an Xbox One this year. I purchased Xbox One with Kinnect AND the Master Chief Collection, Ryse, + Dance Central for 249.99. Yeap things were cray.

You stole something but legally paid for it?

You don't know the meaning of literally

 

[Apathy]

pretty sure EA and Sony have a deal with Hardline. the only other two bundles I can see are Evolve and Witcher 3, and with CDPR delaying the game it might have fucked over MS if they had a bundle lined up for that game instead of Evolve.

The witcher is too niche to makea bundle with.

 

[riotous]

Now they can have an official price cut at some point, and maybe re-generate sales momentum w/o losing too much revenue.

 

[Dead Prince]

The witcher is too niche to makea bundle with.

lol please. red xbox one edition coming. i can feel it in me.

 

[Zil33184]

If, as I believe, Sony can cut costs enough to break even at $299 MSRP then they will do it regardless of what price Xbox One is because the long term model depends on getting a large installed base as quickly as possible rather than maximising hardware profits in the short term.

I hope this happens. I mean, I already have a PS4, but I can't wait to see a $230 Xbox bundle with 2 free games and Halo 5 next BF.

Not surprised to see that the Xbox One price cut wasn't sustainable. Let's face it, they were forced to buy market share in the US and UK in order to stay relevant.