Microsoft Looks To Cut Xbox Costs
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to The Register's article on Microsoft's resolution to reduce the cost of goods sold in its Xbox division. This news is a byproduct of Steve Ballmer's recent internal Microsoft memo urging greater competitiveness, but the article elaborates a little - "Microsoft makes a significant loss - thought to be over $150 - on each Xbox console it sells... significant steps have already been made in slashing Xbox production costs, including moving manufacturing to China from Hungary, and replacing some components with cheaper alternatives." But this is about reducing Microsoft's financial loss per console, not reducing the amount the consumer pays, so, as the article indicates, "..further [Xbox] price cuts seem unlikely in the near future."
Microsoft went into the console market with 2 billion dollars set iside... they said "ok, we got 2 billion, buy a cool console and sell it to as many people as possible, we can make money later"... the plan worked, and they are number 2 in the game market.