Xbox one price cut titanfall bundle addresses two concerns that Xbox One users facing. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ) made the deliberate change to stay in competition with Sony's PS4 and to maintain the loyalty base of its customers.
The prevalent complaints about the Xbox One was a high price tag along with the Xbox Live Gold requirement enabling access apps like Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX ) and ESPN.
Indeed its desperate times for Redmond St., Seattle based and the new chief Satya Nadella and his team have decided to lower the price of the Xbox One from $499 to $399.
This would give the Xbox One an edge over pricing or at least an entry point into the rivalry between Sony (NYSE: SNE) Playstation 4 and Xbox One., The matching pricing tag was arranged by unbundling the Kinect motion sensor, which adds approximately $100 more to the console price. A smart move by Microsoft.
Without the Kinect, the Xbox costs $396, while the PS4, retails for $399, and costs $381 to make. CNN reports that Nintendo's (NASDAQOTH: NTDOY ) Wii U Basic Set, selling for $299.99, with an associated production cost of $228.
Microsoft's takes a jab at Amazon with the Xbox Live Gold ($60 per year) requirement to watch Netflix and other services. Xbox live customers are not tied to Netflix now.
The competition between Microsoft's Xbox One and PS4 from Sony is heating up with gamers anticipating the number of games, the quality of games and of course the price of each title. Traditionally, the peak season between various online video games console sales is before Christmas and after Thanksgiving when shoppers keep an eye out for the best bargains and titles.
Xbox One's popular "Titanfall" and "Forza Motorsport 5" editions are also on the list of discounted items with Microsoft lowering prices to as much as $50 at stores like Walmart and Best Buy.
However, reports say that the Xbox One price drop is not advertized or revealed until you have checked an Xbox One through your virtual cart.
Earlier this week, Amazon dropped the console's price by $100 to $399. Entering the promo code XIAMAZON would slash that price by another $50. These online deals appear to be ending quickly, and the Xbox One is now online for $479.
One reason for Xbox One's declining prices is that Sony's PS4 seems to be doing better at the retail point of sale, while Microsoft is playing 'catch-up.' Both consoles launched in November 2013.
Despite the rivalry, Xbox One sales have crossed the sales mark for 5 million units - a herculean feat for Redmond St., Seattle based Microsoft Corp. After its November launch, Microsoft announced in the beginning of the year that Xbox One sales had surpassed 3 million by the end of 2013 and that figure bumped up to 5 million Xbox One video game consoles to retailers.
The Xbox One console was introduced to gamers on Nov. 22 in the U.S., the UK and Australia ahead of Sony Corp's PlayStation 4 unveiling a week later. In order to spike sales, Microsoft promoted a bundled offer for $450. The offer came with the console and the much hyped shooter game "Titanfall" made by Electronic Arts Inc.
"Sony Corp said on Wednesday it sold more than 7 million PlayStation 4 video game consoles in just over four months to April 6, double the number of the older version, PlayStation 3, sold in about the same time frame after its launch," said a report from Reuters.
