When the Xbox One first came out with Kinect it was priced $500. That wasn’t exactly the ideal price especially since most consumers couldn’t opt out of buying Kinect. Though a Kinect-less version of the console was sold later, Microsoft reduced the price of the console to $350 during last year’s holiday season and have kept this price for nearly the entirety. How did it manage this without any console revisions like the PS4?
According to Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg in a chat with DualShockers, “It’s just part of the life cycle, that components that are in the box typically do go down in cost over time, so there’s always some benefit to that.
“But you’re right. If you try to buy let’s say…a PC today with the same specs as an Xbox One, you’re gonna have a hard time finding one at that price point for sure. And so, that is part of the value of what we deliver by selling the hardware at a great price.
“And you know consumers buy games, subscribe to the Live service and become a gold member etcetera. There are some economics that Sony has as well.”
It’s about more than just price though. Staying competitive in price is the focus but as Greenberg says, “the really big differentiator for us is having the greatest games lineup, having the best games, and continue to invest in innovating with the Xbox Live Service and being that great community where your friends play, where you can earn achievements, where you sort of build your Gamertag and your credibility, and we will continue to do that.
“So the team is working hard. I think we’re innovating a lot. Hopefully people feel like that if they look over the last year, that we’ve delivered a good year of innovation, and if you own an Xbox One today you know that in a year for now it’s gonna be a lot better, and so we will continue to innovate. Same goes for folks on Windows 10. You will continue to see us innovate there as well.”
What are your thoughts on these innovations, especially since the New Xbox One Experience rolled out in November and added features like backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 games? Let us know in the comments.