Xbox One Drops in Price in UK Market, US To Follow?

Today the Redmond, WA-based Microsoft grew some teeth and announced a price drop for the Xbox One from £429 to £399 in the UK.  The price drop doesn’t seem to have much rhyme or reason, but it is likely attributed to Microsoft needing to succeed in Europe to keep pace with Sony’s PS4 console.  Does this mean that the United States and Canada will also see a price drop?  Not likely.  North America is big for Xbox, and despite reports that the PS4 outsold the Xbox One in the US during the month of January, Microsoft will be thumping Sony (barring a freak sales surge of the PS4) in March and perhaps the rest of 2014.  This will be attributed to TitanFall, the first must-have game for either console and is an Xbox exclusive.  Sony will not be picking up this game ever, and they will have to rely on the lesser-hyped Infamous: Second Son to try and move a few more consoles.  TitanFall is so heavily promoted and raved about, Infamous doesn’t stand a chance even if critics were to love it more than TitanFall.  But seeing how Call of Duty was once the dominant figure in gaming and moved millions upon millions of games per release, TitanFall stands to greatly pump some good lifeblood into the Xbox One games library and get consoles off the shelves faster.

As a result, the US and Canada will likely not be high-value targets for a price drop in 2014.  This is Microsoft’s home field advantage and they don’t have to rely on price drops to move consoles.  In reality, Microsoft need to get past their limited 13 market release as Sony is drastically more available across the world with their 50+ market availability.  The Xbox One is expected to launch in many more markets in 2014, but it remains undetermined as to when that global expansion will happen.  Initially we thought it would be early 2014, but the lack of any information from Microsoft on the issue seems to lead us to believe that a late-spring or summer timeframe will be the earliest we see the Xbox One expand its reach.  If they haven’t already caught up with Sony in sales, doubling or tripling their market availability will certainly help make up significant ground.  But for Xbox One owners, rejoice – you have the coolest exclusive and a guaranteed-nomination for Game of the Year title on its way on March 11 (for the US and Canada).

Will 2014 See A Price Cut On The Xbox One?

hour turnaround time for the item to ship.  The console now sells for £409.99, a savings of 20 (close to $32) and is likely to generate a little traffic for the retail site, perhaps until they’re out of stock.  But this begs the question of whether or not the Xbox One is primed for a price drop.  Well, if history and standard business practices are any indication, the answer would be NO.  But the Xbox One faces a unique challenge in that its direct competitor is $100 less.  Even though the PlayStation 4 does not offer a motion camera accessory (the PS Eye, which is not worth investing in right now) the $100 price difference of the Xbox One and PS4 has some consumers complaining and waiting until some kind of deal can be made.  Some analysts have suggested a price drop of some is in the cards for the XB1.  If we were willing to make a wager, a summer price drop could be possible to drive sales during a typically slower season for gaming.  Microsoft currently have no major game titles set to release between June and August and only a few multiplatform titles will be launching leading up to the summer or after.

Still, this is all a long shot because if the Xbox One is selling out its stock regularly then there’s no reason to drop the price.  Microsoft are likely making something on each Xbox One sold at the moment, but dropping the price by even $30 would sting them a bit in the short term.  If you’re waiting for the price to drop because you simply don’t have $500 to spend, getting it for $469.99 seems like hardly worthwhile to hold out for.  But if you’re pinching pennies then that’s your call.  But don’t expect a $100 price drop for years.  Microsoft’s model on the 360 didn’t see it come down from it’s $399 starting price for several years, and the company even found ways to keep the price higher by offering things like limited edition consoles and higher capacity hard drives.  A $100 price drop within the first year would be ridiculous for the company from a business standpoint.  They’re better off making sure their exclusive game launch lineup is secure and compelling since that’s why people buy consoles to begin with.

In the US, Xbox One & 360 Are #1 In December Over PS4 & PS3

Microsoft and Sony released their 2013 sales figures not long ago and the verdict was the PS4 has outsold the Xbox One by roughly 1 million consoles worldwide.  That’s a nice little lead for Sony, emphasis on the “little”.  If you’re familiar with the sales figures of the Xbox 360 and PS3 leading up to the launch of their successors, worldwide sales tracked in the mid 70 million range for both the PS3 and Xbox 360 each.  That’s a lot of consoles in the world and their successors intend to push those figures even higher.

While Sony fanboys were celebrating the PS4’s greater worldwide success, United States Xbox fans have something to cheer about.  During the month of December 2013, Microsoft outsold the PlayStation brand with both its Xbox One and Xbox 360 vs each console’s direct competitor.  The Xbox One sold a whopping 908,000 units while the Xbox 360 pushed 643,000 units.  The Xbox One sales are to be expected, but clearly the US isn’t done with their interest in the Xbox 360.  As was the results of the past, the Xbox 360 dominated in the US month after month, year after year.  However, the Xbox 360 struggled to keep pace with Sony in Japan and Europe.  Europe is an market Microsoft would love to seize from Sony as it typically yields more gamer population.  Australia is another market worth sustaining, but latest reports suggested Microsoft was curb stomping Sony.  Actual numbers haven’t been released though so it’s hard to say where things stand.  Also, China has recently lifted bans on certain cell phone and game console sales, opening up a potentially big market for console sales.  If Microsoft wish to make a quick and decisive strike against Sony in total sales, China would be a great place to do so with their population-heavy market.

It’s important to note that, while PlayStation 4 lost out to Xbox One in the US in December, because of its one-week jump on Microsoft in sales the PlayStation 4 edged out the Xbox One in total sales for 2013.  Microsoft’s David Dennis, Senior Group Project Manager for Xbox, told Forbes that “Xbox One supply is starting to stabilize”.  The supply constraints of a newly launched product that is highly desirable mixed with holiday sales is always a tough way to launch.  Perhaps Microsoft will take note of that fact and either finish their final build of the console at least a month or two earlier or try launching a little sooner so that they can get more people a console that want one.  The staggered week for the Xbox One launch in addition to less-than-predicted available supply likely handcuffed what would have been a worldwide best launch and total sales mark for Microsoft.  Seeing how the Xbox One is billed as a gaming + entertainment all-in-one device, whereas Sony has gambled on omissions of key entertainment media offerings, the Xbox One is expected to outsell the PlayStation 4 once its supply chain is fully established and it has launched in all of its planned markets.  The addition of blockbuster titles like Halo and the newcomer TitanFall which has been getting outrageously good feedback from gaming conferences, where gamers and journalists alike have been getting early cracks at the mech/infantry shooter, will only create more desire for the console.

Even if you don’t own an Xbox One, multiplatform titles like Watch Dogs and Destiny seem to be shaping up very nicely and will likely see great sales and critical praise upon release.  So if you’re itching to play some of Microsoft’s exclusives but can’t shell out the cash for an Xbox One yet, save your pennies and pick one up when you can.