Microsoft plans to broaden their demographic to bring in more money. This was shown as a reality by Nintendo and their Wii console when they launched a system last year which still cannot be found in a store reliably.
Microsoft is emulating rival Nintendo Co. The Japanese company's Wii console outsells the Xbox 360 in the U.S. by appealing to women, children and the elderly, a strategy Microsoft says it needs to adopt to win a broader audience than the first Xbox attracted.
Perhaps Microsoft is learning that their hardcore gamers aren't the largest pool of gamers and they tend to buy only a limited range of games. This also affects their sales figures in Japan because many eastern gamers seem to play more casual games or at least games that don't involve holding a gun and running around.
This may also come with a price drop to please those gamers that aren't willing to shell out big cash for a Halo or Grand Theft Auto.
"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,'' said Peter Moore, a vice president who oversees the Xbox. "What I need is a solid business with 90 million people.''
Although Microsoft wouldn't comment about the Xbox 360 prices and if they're losing money on each sale, analysts suspect a September price drop.
All this seems counter productive to their strategy to confuse the market with yet another Xbox 360 model (elite) and a higher price tag than their other system to purchase it. Who knows...
(thanks, bloomberg)
