The battle for the next generation of gaming
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was first released in late November 2005 and due to this early launch, it had a jump start on both of its competitors, the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii. Bill Gates stated that by the time the Wii and PlayStation 3 will be released in November 2006, nearly 10 million Xbox 360 units should be sold. With an estimated 15 million sold by the end of Microsoft's fiscal year.
So, how is it going?
As of the end of June 2006 the total number of Xbox 360s sold is 5 million units. Divided into 1.5 million units for the last quarter of 2005, 1.7 million units for the first quarter of 2006 and 1.8 million units for the second quarter of 2006.
The competitors
The official release dates for the Playstation 3 are Nov 11 2006 for Japan and six days later for Europe, North America and Australia. For the Nintendo Wii an exact release date has not yet been confirmed. However, Nintendo's most recent statements confirm that the company plans to release the Wii in the fourth quarter of 2006 and that a precise release date and price would be announced by September. |
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Price levels
Microsoft's retail strategy involves two different configurations of the Xbox 360 in most countries: the Xbox 360 Platinum Package and an Xbox 360 Core System. At launch, the Xbox 360 was priced at USD $399. The estimated total cost of components in the "platinum" bundle at $525 USD (not including manufacturing costs) meaning that Microsoft is losing money on every Xbox 360 system sold. Current US prices start from €302 for the Platinum Package and €230 for the Core System while European price levels start around €270 and €370 respectively.
Release date and suggested retail price by region (wikipedia.org)
| Region |
Expected pricing at release |
Release date |
| Basic |
Premium |
| Japan |
¥59,800 |
Open price |
Nov 11 2006 |
| Eurozone |
€499 |
€599 |
Nov 17 2006 |
| United Kingdom |
-
|
£425 |
| United States |
$499 |
$599 |
| Canada |
$549 |
$659 |
| Australia |
$829 |
$999 |
| Norway |
-
|
6000 kr |
| Denmark |
4,295 DKK |
5,295 DKK |
| New Zealand |
$999
|
$1199 |
Nov 23 2006 |
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Expected pricing at the release of Playstation 3 are €599 in the Eurozone, £425 (621€) in United Kingdom and $599 (€470) in the United States (see more details in the table to the left).
Since Nintendo has not announced the definite price for the Wii yet, nobody knows for sure. But according to Famitsu.com, Nintendo revealed at a recent press conference that the price would not exceed 25,000 yen (€170). The rumour on various sites says that with US/EU taxes we can expect the Wii prices to be around $225 / €225 / £150
For the price of a PS3 you can get three Wii's! |
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