No Immediate Xbox 360 Price Cut: Microsoft Japan Official
Tokyo, Sept 13, 2007 (Jiji Press) - Microsoft Co., the Japanese unit of Microsoft Corp., will not cut the price of its Xbox 360 video game console in Japan in the near future to shore up its weak sales, a senior official said in a recent interview with Jiji Press.
Takashi Sensui, executive officer and chief of the home and entertainment division at Tokyo-based Microsoft Co., said that the group has confidence in the Xbox 360 in terms of price and performance.
But he said he is not satisfied with the sales results of the home-use game machine so far.
Sensui attributed the sluggish sales to the lack of consumer recognition of the features of next-generation game consoles.
Many game makers are now releasing software that can be used for both the Xbox and Sony Corp.'s <6758> PlayStation 3 video game console. Sensui said such trend will serve as a spur to sales of the Xbox, citing its price advantage over PlayStation 3.
Sensui was cautious about entering into the portable game console market, saying it is now important to concentrate the company's resources on the Xbox. It would be difficult to achieve the movie-like image quality of the Xbox on the small screen of a portable game machine, he added.
