Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are both expected this year, but neither Microsoft or Sony have revealed pricing details for their new consoles just yet.
According to Michael Pachter, Wedbush Securities analyst, and former EA and Microsoft exec Peter Moore, that's because Microsoft is waiting to undercut its competitor.
On a podcast hosted by Geoff Keighley, both suggested that Microsoft would be willing to take a hit on the profits from their new console if it means undercutting sony.
“If they wanna cut the price by $100 – just price below [PS5] and subsidise the first 10 million – they will. So, I think that they’re waiting to have Sony blink first and then they’ll reveal the price,” said Pachter. “Very likely $400.”
“From what I’ve seen, Sony’s gonna have to charge $500 for the PS5 and Microsoft has a big balance sheet,” he said.
That suggests that Microsoft would look to essentially buy back their market share, something Moore agreed with.
“Michael’s right; what both companies are going through right now is ‘how much can we afford to lose in the first 12 to 18 months?’ ‘what is our attach rate of software to hardware?’ ‘What are we willing to do in year one, two and three to hit 10 million?' Moore said, pointing to Microsoft's increased fortunes in the stock market.
With Microsoft widely expected to reveal a second next-gen console at a lower price point, there's the possibility of releasing a cheaper and more expensive console than the PS5 at the same time, but there's also the possibility of both boxes undercutting Sony.
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