Microsoft’s Xbox One X is due to hit store shelves on November 7th, but analyst Michael Pachter isn’t convinced that the console will sell well when it launches.
According to Michael Pachter, the Xbox One X won’t suffer from a lack of launch titles to take advantage of the new hardware, but instead it will be its price tag that will prevent the console from being a commercial success.
Speaking in the latest episode of his show, the Pachter Factor series, he said, “I think it won’t sell so well because it costs twice as much as PlayStation 4.”
“I mean, I think that’s the easy answer, and you know again PlayStation 4 and Xbox One S are nominally priced at $299, and they’re pretty regularly discounted to $249, and they are almost always bundled with something, so the $299 version you kind of have to be a moron to pay $299 for a console now and not get a piece of software for free which does have a perceived value of 50 bucks.”
“You’ll be able to get to Christmas Xbox One X launch date and for $600 you can buy a PlayStation and an Xbox and get a piece of software for each for sure, like I promised that. If you can’t get that, I’ll give you the 50 bucks difference.”
Pachter went on to add, “I’ll give you software you’re going to find that during the Holiday Season between Black Friday and Christmas. I promise you at least 5 days in that period you will be able to buy each console for $300 and free pieces of software. For $600 you can buy both consoles and two games, and for $500 you can buy an Xbox One X and no games, and if you want to buy two games, at least another 100 bucks so the value proposition is ONE CONSOLE TWO GAMES or TWO CONSOLE TWO GAMES.”
It will be interesting to see how well the Xbox One X does when it launches in November. It’s well known that it will be the most powerful console on the market, there’s no disputing that. However, its biggest challenge will be convincing Xbox One owners to upgrade to the new hardware at a premium price.
