XBox sales, in the U.S., doubled in the week following its price cut to USD 149 at the end of last month. Although the figures are by no means official, it seems that retailer feedback is strong enough to confirm such a claim. Microsoft also hopes to sustain that rising sales trend with the imminent release of the Halo bundle which has always been a consumer favorite.
It is, of course, to easy to accept such a claim at face value. What Microsoft is forgetting to mention is that the week following the March 30 price cut was the week leading to the Easter break which even though not a major celebration still provides a considerable boost to a teenagers budget. Any sales effect of the current holiday season will be obvious in the results for the whole month of April which will offer a better perspective since we will be able to compare the sales performance of all consoles. To XBox's credit however, most analysts saw the price cut as too restricted, claiming that it would fail to have an impact on the console's sales.
Most console enthusiasts however, will be hoping that the price cut has brought a sales boost to XBox since such a result would make Sony seriously consider a price cut of its own. Sources close to the PS2 manufacturer suggest that if XBox does benefit from the cut, Sony will also reduce the price of the PS2 to USD 149, with plans to offer a 2 game bundle which will make the PS2 cheaper than Microsoft's offering.
What makes things tricky for Sony is that the financial year ended last month and a price change on the PS2 so soon, may create an image of instability for the company. That is, of course, where the strategic brilliance of Microsoft comes in, since they chose that date for the price cut announcement for precisely that reason.
The financial and marketing intricacies involved however are not our concern and the bottom line remains simple, better value for money means more happy gamers.
