Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has re-instated the Xbox One’s price drop, bringing the all-in-one console back down to an attractive $349 price point.
The news comes straight from a new post on the Xbox Wire that discusses the Xbox One’s sales record for the holidays.
“Building off a record-setting holiday, we are excited to announce a new promotion in which fans in the U.S. can buy an Xbox One at a special price of $349, starting tomorrow, January 16, from their preferred retailer,” said Mike Nichols, Corporate Vice President of Marketing for Xbox. “
Over the holidays all non-Kinect Xbox One consoles were marked down to $349 for a “limited time”, including the Assassin’s Creed and Sunset Overdrive bundles. leading to a surge in console sales over the holiday season.
The price drop led to a surge in Xbox One sales over the holidays, and for the first time the Xbox One out-sold the PS4 in the U.S. for the month of November. It’s also worth noting that the limited nature of the price drop surely motivated sales.
Breaking Sony’s (NYSE: SNE) long-standing reign in sales was a tremendous occasion for the Redmond-based console-maker, and it showed gamers were willing to buy the Xbox One for the right price.
Microsoft has since revealed the Xbox One continued its streak, outselling the PS4 in December as well.
As of January 16 Microsoft has brought back the $349 price to commemorate the two-month record over the PS4, in hopes of moving more units and revitalizing console sales. The new price is part of a “new promotion”, and it appears that details aren’t clear whether or not it’s limited to the United States or will be applied globally.
While any victory is great news, Microsoft still has a long way to go. Sony has shipped more than 10 million PS4 consoles to date, and beat the Xbox One in global sales for December. Overall the PS4 continues to dominate worldwide console sales.
Microsoft hasn’t revealed how long the Xbox One will stay at $349, but we’ll likely find out when the sales charts roll in after a month or so.
