Microsoft Cuts Xbox 360 Price in U.S. to $199, Below $249 Wii

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 4, 2008 - 8:36am.

Seattle - Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) has announced plans to slash the price of its entry-level Xbox 360 video game console in the U.S. from $279 to $199, dropping it below the $250 price tag on the popular Nintendo Wii in advance of the holiday shopping season, BusinessWeek reports. The Xbox 360 Arcade, which does not come with a hard drive, will sell for $199, while the 60GB Xbox 360 Pro will come down in price from $349 to $299, and 120GB Xbox 360 Elite will be discounted to $399 from $449.

The cheapest Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 console is currently a $399, 80GB model.

Microsoft announced the U.S. price cuts, which go into effect on Sept. 5, shortly after similar discounts were effected in Japan.

The company has to date sold over 20 million Xbox 360 consoles, compared with 14.4 million units for the PlayStation 3 and nearly 30 million unit sales of Nintendo Wii consoles.

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http://snipurl.com/3n12u (BusinessWeek)