In another attmept to conquer the Japanese market, Microsoft announced it will
reduce (again) the price for its two versions of Xbox 360 gaming console.
The Redmond
company will sell the standard version of Xbox 360 (with 20 GB hard drive) for 34,800
yen ($305), a 13 percent less than the previous price. The new price will be
effective from November 1.
Microsoft hasn’t had such a good position in the Land of the
Rising Sun and it was constantly outsold by the home grown rivals Nintendo Wii
and Sony’s PlayStation 3.
Since its 2005 launch in Japan Microsoft has managed to sell
only 446,201 Xbox 360s. His rivals, Nintendo and Sony, have sold in less then a
year 3,49 million Wii and 1,17 million PlayStation 3.
For example, according to Enterbain, August was a real
disaster for Microsoft as the makers of Xbox360 sold only 11,288 units.
It remains to be seen if Halo 3 has managed to boost the
sales of Xbox 360 as it did in US. According to the latest data released by NPD
Group, in September Microsoft has sold in US alone 528,000 units and outsold
Nintendo Wii for the first time in months.
Still at the last Tokyo Game Show Microsoft said they plan
to increase the number of game titles in Japan from 170 to 250.
Microsoft’s announcement comes after Sony presented earlier
this month its intention to cut 10 percent of its PlayStation 3 price in time
for the holidays and to introduce a new ceramic white color exclusively to the
country. Sony also announced that the 40GB PS3, launched earlier this month in
Europe and US, will go on sale in Japan for 39,980 yen ($341) on
November 11.
So, in order to beat Sony’s offering, Microsoft will also
sell core Xbox 360 system for 27,800 yen ($245) instead of 29,800 yen ($261) and
it will release a ‘limited’ Value Pack for its system at 34,800 yen ($306)
which will come with first-party titles Viva Pinata and Forza Motorsport 2, but
without an HDMI cable.
All these announcements come in the companies’ effort to
target higher sales before and during the Christmas period.
Worldwide, so far, Nintendo has sold 9.3 million units of
its Wii, Sony 5 million of its PlayStation 3, also put on the market in 2006. Microsoft
Xbox 360 has been on sales since 2005 and its sold units are now accounted for
11.6 million.
