Microsoft knows console 'sweet spot' is $199
Bloomberg news just flowed with the good quotes today. Speaking with various Xbox executives, they got one to talk about a sales sweet spot, another to say where they really want the Xbox numbers to be, and finally, a message to the hardcore. First up was Xbox's director of product management, David Hufford, who said, "We are well aware that the sweet spot of the market is really 199 bucks.'' Knowing and doing are clearly two different things. We've been expecting an Xbox price drop to come along later this year, but there hasn't really been a clear movement in that direction just yet. And even if there is a drop, we really don't think anybody should be expecting the premium or "real" Xbox 360 to be $199 anytime soon.
Another beautiful quote comes from Peter Moore, who discusses expanding the demographics of the Xbox 360, which currently resides with the 20-something male. Moore says, "If we don't make that move, make it early and expand our demographic, we will wind up in the same place as with Xbox 1, a solid business with 25 million people ... What I need is a solid business with 90 million people.'' Is that a lofty goal? You better believe it. But if that's where Moore wants to be, expect some serious changes with the console coming soon -- there's that concept of a price drop again.
Some of the changes expected are more family games, making children's titles easier to find and cutting the price. We have one more quote, which really nails home how the Wii is changing the industry with its disturbing sales march. Albert Penello, director of Xbox global marketing knocks it out of the park with, "If you don't start building that content and reputation it never comes ... I don't want to be pigeonholed as a hard-core machine.''
[Via GI.biz]
