An Xbox One will probably retail for $349 from now on, according to industry analyst Michael Pachter. The price was once again dropped down to $349 after Microsoft raised it back up after the holidays. Speaking to GameInformer, Pachter said he doesn’t expect that to change.
“On January 16 they said ‘Effective tomorrow we have special promotional pricing of $349.’ It didn’t say temporary, and it didn’t put a date of when it ends, which is really curious,” Pachter said.
“It’s not officially a price cut – it’s promotional pricing. This allows the retailer to advertise regularly $399 and now it’s $349, but I have a feeling it will never go back up.” On a related topic, Pachter said the Xbox One had trouble matching the PS4′s sales in the early days thanks to Kinect.
“Kinect allowed players to voice control and motion control things, but most of us didn’t need that. I don’t need to say ‘Xbox on,’” he said.
“I don’t mind pressing a button on my controller – that’s all you have to do. It’s not that hard. It’s actually harder to say ‘Xbox on.’