GAMESCOM’09: Did excessive stock in the channel cause Microsoft to slam breaks on price cut announcement?
Whilst Peter Molyneux’s impressive Fable III presentation was a pleasant surprise for most at Gamescom, the biggest shock of all was the lowering of the curtains with not so much as a whisper of price cuts or new Xbox 360 SKUs.
Many – including MCV – were expecting Microsoft to announce a price cut to its high-end Xbox 360 Elite, replacing the Xbox 360 Pro in its range of console SKUs.
Some had also predicted a price rise for the Xbox 360 Arcade.
However, MCV was yesterday told by a national electronics retailer that Microsoft was considering delaying the announcement of its price cut whilst it waits for unusually high stock levels of both the Arcade and Elite to clear from the channel.
What is known is that Microsoft has informed retail of a new, as of yet unspecified, Xbox 360 SKU. Whether or not this is the anticipated Xbox 360 Elite price drop remains to be seen.