The Xbox 360 is dead

By Mike Bantick
Monday, 07 April 2008 04:38

Opinion and Analysis

According to a report, if some Australian retailers had their way, the Xbox 360 would be dumped from their shelves.

Lifestyle website Smarthouse is reporting on a recent survey of Australian retail chains covering more than 2,000 stores and outlets.

As a consensus they report that the majority of their marketing efforts are aimed at the Nintendo Wii as well as the rising popularity of the Sony PlayStation 3.

The “Ring of Death” issue has hurt Microsoft’s stance in the market, whilst the Wii appeals the “Women and Kids” and with Blu-ray having won the high-definition disc war, the PS3 is rising not so much on the back of its gaming capabilities, but as a Blu-ray player.  This in turn encourages retailers to bush Blu-ray content.

One comment from the report: “The Xbox 360 is dead. We are stocking it because of our relationship with Microsoft however all our energy and marketing is going into the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii unless Microsoft come up with something new or additional marketing dollars. Halo 3 was big on the Xbox but that was about it. They have tried discounting and value add offers and even that is not working. We are even thinking of dumping the console all together".

Personally, I find this an interesting take on the market; I can understand the push from retailers in the Blu-ray department – I believe the high-definition disc format will be a short-lived era compared to the CD and DVD time frames.  Retailers are wise to cram as many transactions into this period as they possibly can.

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