Xboxist

360 Hardware Sales Jump After Price Cut

Microsoft took on a tremedous risk by slashing the price of their flagship console, bringing the Arcade bundle below the important $200 USD price point. It appears as if that risk has paid off for the Redmond company, at least in the short term. Financial magazine Bloomberg reported today that sales of the Xbox 360 console have doubled following the price cuts which took effect last week.

"Microsoft Corp. doubled sales of the Xbox 360 video game machine last weekend after cutting the price by as much as 29 percent to narrow Nintendo Co.'s lead.

Retailers reported a 100 percent increase in sales for all models compared with the previous weekend, Redmond, Washington- based Microsoft said in an e-mailed statement. Some models sold at six times the previous weekend's rate. The company didn't say how many were sold. Microsoft rose 34 cents to $26.44 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading."

This is obviously good news for the company, which is struggling to retain the top spot amid resurgent popularity of Sony's PS3 hardware and the ongoing dominance of Nintendo's Wii. It will be interesting to see if these strong sales continue through the rest of the holiday buying season, and whether Microsoft's early move trigers a similar response from rival companies Nintendo and Sony.

[Via: Bloomberg]