Is it reasonable to expect the Xbox360 to drop in price anytime soon?

[OneOfTheseDays]

Now that the HD-DVD addon is available I am considering purchasing the Xbox360. However $399 for the premium system is a little steep for my budget. I'd hate to buy one now only for it to go down in price by $50-100 in the next few months. Does anybody know if these things will be dropping down in price anytime in the near future?

 

[JEDIYoda]

no!!

 

[Slew Foot]

not officially, but you can sometimes find them on sale for 300-350.

 

[thebigdude]

Not for awhile. There are different places that offer rebates or other discounts but as far as a price drop from Microsoft no.

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

Just recently there were $100 rebates on it in Hot Deals I think. I don't know if the offer still stands or what the details were.

 

[Bateluer]

MS has been alternating their stances. One week they'll say they have no intention of lowering the price, the next they'll say they intend to lower the price because of their improved manufacturing.

I'd say for certain we'll see an X360 price drop sometime next year, when the Wii and PS3 are more common on store shelves and the X360 will have increased competition.

 

[Injury]

They're selling out right now, so no reason to lower the price for at least a few months. I think the earliest you could reasonably expect a price drop is Holiday '07.

 

[0roo0roo]

the time woulda been now if it were gonna happen. so no.

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

There's no reason to drop the price atm, it's selling well and it's Xmas. At the very earliest, it'd be when PS3 came out in Europe (March), but I imagine they'd prefer/need it to coincide with the cheaper components/build which might be further off.

Insert disclaimer.

 

[jlbenedict]

Since the PS3 is in limited supply, Microsoft is not really feeling pressured into moving supply. Once the PS3 is readily available to the masses, then I feel Microsoft will price the '360 to move off the shelves appropriately to pound Sony in the @$$ some more.

 

[Queasy]

Don't expect a price drop until next year. They are finally making a profit on every 360 sold so they probably aren't going to do a price drop until they can reduce the costs enough to where they are still making a profit.

If you have a Microcenter near you though, you can get a Premium 360 for $200 after a $100 rebate and another $100 rebate for signing up for the Microcenter credit card.

 

[PricklyPete]

I certainly would not expect it in less than a year. They are selling well right now and they have a product on the shelves whereas Sony and Nintendo...well not so much.

My prediction:

1) Once the Sony Playstation starts becoming more readily available (late Spring), they'll drop the price maybe $50.
2) Next fall (maybe late summer), they'll come out with a new "Premium" system that will have a much larger hard drive...at least 100 GB. The current premium system (or something in between it and the Core) will become the new "core" system. The two systems will cost $299 and $399 respectively. The current Core system may stick around for a $199 price point.
3) Following summer, the prices may drop another $50.

 

[Aquaman]

expect the price to drop in 2 years (usual pattern).

Cheers,
Aquaman <<<<<< was in the industry for a couple years

 

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: Aquaman
expect the price to drop in 2 years (usual pattern).

Cheers,
Aquaman <<<<<< was in the industry for a couple years

Which would mean 1 year from today.

 

[LanceM]

A price drop? No. As others have said, look for sales or cheap bundles at every electronics store you know of. Many places are packing in a game or two for the holidays. Just keep an eye out.

 

[MaDDinGO]

Originally posted by: Sudheer Anne
Now that the HD-DVD addon is available I am considering purchasing the Xbox360. However $399 for the premium system is a little steep for my budget. I'd hate to buy one now only for it to go down in price by $50-100 in the next few months. Does anybody know if these things will be dropping down in price anytime in the near future?

You could get it for $350 already....... from TB

Overstock Xbox 360 Premium System $351, Nov. 10

Back in. Overstock.com has the Xbox 360 Premium System with Hard drive, Wireless controller, headset $398.99 - 10% off Coupon (Exp 11/30) = $351.12, $1.40 shipping. Tax only in TN, UT.

You must add any non video game, non media item to your cart for discount.

 

[Otaking]

If you're near a Microcenter, they're offering a $100 rebate on either the Core ($199 AR) or Premium systems ($299 AR) up until 12/31. I cashed in on this when I went up to Dallas for Thanksgiving...

Link to Hot Deals thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1958913&enterthread=y

 

[bucwylde23]

I highly doubt that there will be a price drop for quite a while. If there is one, I think that it will be like $50 or something along those lines. Don't look for a huge price drop...

And I don't think anyone is going to know about it until it happens...

 

[TheSiege]

Originally posted by: Mike

Originally posted by: Aquaman
expect the price to drop in 2 years (usual pattern).

Cheers,
Aquaman <<<<<< was in the industry for a couple years

Which would mean 1 year from today.

thats not accurate at all, the original xbox dropped to 200 from 300 6 months after it was release. in may of 02....

 

[Hammerhead]

The core system dropped to $100 for about 30 seconds on Thanksgiving.

 

[TecHNooB]

Anyone read that article about how some guys jacked a bunch of trucks carrying $3 million worth of 360s? Whatre the chances of a price drop after an incident like that ;/

 

[zebano]

Any chance that I can pick up an Xbox for $50?

 

[Murphy Durphy]

There have been a lot of uninformed assumptions here.

Microsoft is in fact planning on a price drop. A Microsoft rep even stated so just a couple days ago. Text

However, you won't see a price drop until at least March. With all the systems being sold this holiday season, there is no way Microsoft would drop the price. Otherwise you'd see a flood of people returning their Xbox's with their 90 day warranty to get a lower price.

A price drop is coming, but don't expect it till Spring.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: jlbenedict
Since the PS3 is in limited supply, Microsoft is not really feeling pressured into moving supply. Once the PS3 is readily available to the masses, then I feel Microsoft will price the '360 to move off the shelves appropriately to pound Sony in the @$$ some more.

Exactly. However Microsoft could still drop the price of the console in the next coming weeks, they just insist they won't because if they hint that they will then no one will buy any now at the current price while PS3s and Wiis are hard to come by whereas 360s are plentiful.

 

[rudder]

I want the original xbox to get clearanced out... or did i miss that already? I bought my last system when all the stores starting dumping the dreamcast.