While the soon to be released August NPD video game sales data will of course not reflect any impact from the recent Xbox 360 price cut, Microsoft has made it clear that the price reduction across its SKU lineup is already boosting business.
The company told Bloomberg that “retailers reported a 100 percent increase in sales for all models compared with the previous weekend.” Moreover, certain models were selling at six times the previous weekend’s rate. How each SKU was faring at its new price was not disclosed, nor did Microsoft provide an actual sales figure overall.
While the Xbox 360 has been outsold in the U.S. by Sony’s PS3 in recent months, we’d guess that the price reduction will give the 360 the edge in September and possibly throughout the holiday. “I think the sub-$200 Xbox 360 arcade is extremely good for holiday. Historically, whenever you get a system under $200 it appeals to a much wider demographic,” GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo commented to GameDaily BIZ in a recent interview.
It’ll be interesting to see what impact the $199 Xbox 360 really has in the coming months, especially considering that it’s $50 cheaper than the Wii.
Source: GameDaily.com