Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
Microsoft could slash the price of its Xbox 360 by $100 or more to US$199 for its basic console and possibly bundle in a free game if a recent report is anything to go by. According to a Bloomberg report, a Microsoft Xbox executive has admitted that US$199 is the trigger point for mass consumer sales and also pointed to Nintendo's success with bundling a game with the Wii console for US$250.
The Xbox 360 costs US$299 for a console with no
hard drive and US$399 for 20GB hard drive model. Currently both Xbox
360 and the US$599 Sony PlayStation 3 are being easily outsold in all
markets by Wii which sells for US$250.
Bloomberg reports that Xbox product manager David Hufford said that
Microsoft knows that US$199 is "the sweet spot" for the consoles
market. Hufford also said that Nintendo had done a good job in bundling
the Wii with a game for US$250.
The Microsoft comments show the company is well aware of the continuing
strong sales of the PS2, which is now priced at US$129 and has been
selling at US$199 or less since mid 2002, two years after it came on
the market. The PS2 is easily the biggest selling console of all time
with more than 120 million units shipped, of which the majority have
been sold since 2002.
Microsoft, which makes a hefty loss on each Xbox 360 sold, is really in
the business of selling games for its consoles so the company may be
setting itself to take an even bigger loss on console sales for the
sake of moving more boxes. In addition, Hufford's comments suggest that
Microsoft may consider emulating Nintendo and bundling a game or two
with its consoles after slashing the price.
With Sony's president Ryoji Chubachi recently hinting that PS3 price
cuts are not far away and any price move by Nintendo sure to drop the
Wii price below $199, Microsoft, which specialises in dropping hints to
the market through well-timed "leaks" and off-the-cuff comments from
executives, seems to be priming the market for a $199 Xbox
360.
David Bass
| For the fourth year in a row, IDC has placed content security provider Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) at the top of the IDC Worldwide Web Security 2011 –…
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