Microsoft announced the Xbox One Scorpio early- very early. When they announced it at E3 this year, it was still a year and a half from release, and as of right now, it is still over a year from its projected Holiday 2017 launch.
Speaking in a recent interview with TechRadar, Microsoft’s Albert Penello explained, yet again, why they chose to do that. “We wanted to let people know in advance so that we didn’t run into the opposite problem which is next year we announce Scorpio and we have people that bought Xbox One S and went ‘Why didn’t you tell me this was coming a year later? I would have waited,” Penello said.
“I’m glad we give people that option, to figure out what makes sense for them, what’s important to them. I think we have a great product [in the Xbox One S]…I’m very confident in that product and the value that it delivers, and I’m glad we told people that something else was coming next year, and to give people the opportunity to wait if they think it’s going to be better for them.
“I think we’ve given them enough information that they can understand what’s coming.”
Microsoft have previously discussed why they announced the Scorpio so early, potentially risking cannibalizing sales of the Xbox One S in the process- they wanted to be upfront with their customers, and ensure that they understood that they had a choice to wait for a potentially superior product, too. It was a move that respected customers, and it seems to have paid off well for them, given how successful the Xbox One S has been.