The Xbox One will launch this November with a price point $100 higher than Sony’s PlayStation 4. That’s a fact, and one that many consumers have had to consider when choosing a next-generation platform. It’ll be interesting to see how the financial side of the console war factors into sales, but according to Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, Microsoft won’t be lowering the price of the Xbox One soon after launch unless Sony pushes too far ahead.
“If the Xbox sells close to the same number of units as the PlayStation 4, then I don’t think you get a price cut,” Pacther said in his most recent Pach-Attack video. “If it lags behind the PS4 by a lot, then I think you get the price cut in a hurry.”
Why pick the $499 price point to begin with? According to Pachter, it’s because Microsoft thinks the camera is worth the extra money.
“Microsoft’s convinced that the camera and the microphone array are worth the extra hundred bucks, and they think they know better than you,” he continued. “They’re going to wait and see if you think it’s worth it, too.”
We’ll just have to wait until November to see if it all works out for the Xbox One.