http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/07/its-official-xbox-360-price-drop-coming-this-wednesday/ In the wake of leaked flyers from what seems like every major retailer in the country, Microsoft is finally ready to come clean on the Xbox 360 price drop announcing today a $50 cut on the main console (known informally as the Pro or Premium model) from $399 to $349. The price drop – scheduled for August 8th – is timed to coincide with the August 14th release of Madden NFL 08, one of the three titles that would have made up Microsoft's holiday hat trick (before GTA IV pulled out of the race early). Noting the staggering 624 day stretch since the console's November 2005 launch, Microsoft's Mitch Koch said, "The fact that we have been able to keep our launch price longer than any other console while retaining our leadership position demonstrates that consumers believe in the value of Xbox 360." It's not just the Premium system getting its price axed. Just like the flyers promised, the Xbox 360 Core will drop $20 to $279 while the Xbox 360 Elite (which should now actually be available in stores) will see a $30 drop to $449. In a brief chat with Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg, we had a chance to ask about some of the lingering questions surrounding this price drop. Greenberg was quick to point out this decision was timed to coincide with the launch of Madden and not any cost-cutting measures on their part (read: 65nm processors); however, they wouldn't cite specific details on the components. The Premium console is seeing the largest price reduction since it enjoys the largest percentage of sales, at 80% of all Xbox 360 consoles sold. Specific bundles, like this Table Tennis bundle, are retailer specific and not "channel-wide" according to Greenberg, so don't expect to walk into any old box store and pick one up (that one is Circuit City specific).
what a pair..MS and EA hyping each other. At least they'll be shoveling shitty 360's into the hands of madden players. The new 360's are supposed to hit this fall, so I'd assume they'd want to clear off the shelves for those. now, this is pure comedy...
But will the 65-45nm chips be available for september? For just $50 less I'm not going to take the risk of buying a potentially broken console... Just for saying that I'm not buying a X360 anytime soon...
If I remember correctly the 45nm models won't come out until November '07, just in time for Christmas.
The 65nm models are coming out around the holidays; the 45nm models will hit late 2008 at the earliest.
There will be. Ultimately 45nm will be cheaper to produce. And they have to make more to replace all our dead consoles.
Even if the 65nm chips dont get delayed again the X360 will be 2 years old during the next holidays. At this point most would say we're at the middle of the console's lifespan, so unless MS decides to continue with production of the X360 after its successor (like sony did with PSX and PS2) I doubt theres enough time for 45nm chips to enter the battle.
Why is that stupid? The lifespan of a console is 4-5 years. It has always been this way, not to mention the fact that M$ really likes being early on the market so they'll try to push a new console before Nintendo and Sony do so.
