NEWS: Xbox Price Drop!

The software giants Microsoft Corp. have announced another price drop for the Xbox console in U.K and other European countries. In an attempt to spoil Sony Playstation 2 price cut the announcement came literally hours before Sony's and according to sources the Xbox console price is to be slashed by as much a quarter to attract customer as the Christmas season approaches. The price slash will take effect on August 27^th 2004 and the Xbox is to retail at $182.2 in the U.K. and $184.5 in other European countries.

In March of 2004 the Xbox console in US was reduced to $149.99 US. Many online retailers already feature the new Xbox price structure. Click here to see a list of retailers to buy an Xbox console online.

Presently (May 2002) the Xbox price is US $299. Xbox fans in other countries such as Australia and United Kingdom will benefit from Microsoft's aggressive marketing campaign, that saw the price of the Xbox console drop by nearly half(!), timed at the Gamecube release date in these countries. The unprecedented move follows the poor Xbox sales after the launch in Australia, Europe and Japan.

Mr Duncan, Vice President of Xbox Europe stated that the new price allows Microsoft to be more competitive and make serious inroads into the hearts of European gamers leading up to Christmas 2002. Indeed, the gambit paid off and following the price reduction, Xbox sales in Europe were on par with Playstation 2 sales. The new Xbox price was introduced on 26 April 2002. Those who bought the Xbox at the higher price are promised a "thank you package", which includes two free games and an Xbox game controller.

In Europe, the Gamecube price was also lowered. Nintendo reported that 75,000 GameCubes were sold during the launch weekend, which could possibly be a new british record. The top selling games were Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II, Luigi's Mansion and 2002 FIFA World Cup (Amazon.co.uk) - perhaps an indication that british video gamers belong to the "mature" group, whereas in other countries Mario-like games aimed at pre-teens sold the best. These sales figures demonstrate that the drop in retail price was a success for Nintendo. Read more about the Xbox in the UK and Europe here.

There are unconfirmed rumors that Microsoft will pre-empt its competitors by lowering the Xbox price to as low as $199 in the U.S. by the time of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, May 22-24, 2002. Microsoft has not made a statement addressing this rumor yet. The price drop is expected to take effect on May 23. Although Sony has denied any forthcoming price cuts, analysts speculate that Sony may even opt to preempt the price cut by going down to $199.99 before Microsoft announces the xbox price drop.

So - does this mean that the Xbox price in the U.S. will drop? Although market analysts and insiders predict a significant Xbox price drop, to $199, it remains to be seen how the big players play their poker game. The PS2 has stubbornly (and admittedly correctly, proving the marketing strategists right) held on to their $299 price tag when the Xbox and Gamecube were released. It did not mean a decline in sales but instead more PS2's were sold during that time than rivalling consoles. Sales numbers of last year's Christmas season are shown in our article, Xbox vs Gamecube vs PS2. Now, in May 2002, Sony has sold almost 10 million units of Playstation 2 consoles in North America alone (28 million units world-wide). Sony stated that they see no reason in the foreseeable future to change their price of $299.

If there are no major changes at the E3 show (and more and more it looks as if there WILL be price changes), than both Xbox and PS2 are likely to remain steady in price until at least after Christmas 2002. Only countries with console sales below expectation will see this dramatic price reduction to enable Microsoft the installation of a user base. View a list of online retailers with current prices for the Xbox console.