Microsoft Reins in Xbox 360

The company is taking a cautious approach as consoles start to stack up in stores.

Xbox boss Robbie Bach proudly touted the impressive first full year of the Xbox 360 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month, and for good reason.

Microsoft predicted it would sell 10 million Xbox 360s by the end of the year (originally it said it would hit this mark by the time PS3 launched) and by 31 December the company had sold 10.4 million consoles through to retailers. But the numbers aren't as solid as Microsoft first suggested.

Late last week Microsoft said that it was cutting its target of 13-15 million consoles shipped by the end of June to 12 million. Microsoft's Chris Liddell told Reuters that there were plenty of consoles in stores already and the company was being cautious.

With plenty of consoles sitting on shelves, there could be a temptation to drop the price of the Xbox 360, but that could be a while away too.

Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets, said that a price drop for the Xbox 360 this winter was "unlikely", according to Next Generation.

There has been speculation that Microsoft is preparing a new version of the Xbox 360, such as the Zephyr prototype recently outed by Engadget. That system has a 120 GB hard drive and an HDMI connector for high-definition TVs.

The talk is that Microsoft would bring this new system in at the current Premium pack price and the Premium pack would replace the Core pack. But Microsoft denied that this was being prepared for release.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo