Xbox, the first games console released by Microsoft, has gone on
sale in the US with a retail price of $299, around $100 more than
Sony’s PlayStation 2 which has so far sold 20 million units and
Nintendo’s Gamecube which launches in the US on Sunday.
While advanced orders account for all 300,000 units initially
available, Microsoft says it will have 1.5 million Xbox consoles
available to US shops before Christmas. The company is spending
$500 million in advertising and promoting the Xbox.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Kunitake Ando,
President of Sony, said that the biggest threat for Sony is that
the Xbox could change the games industry’s lifecycle.
Traditionally, explains the FT, consoles sell for five years, which
gives the manufacturers enough time to recoup hardware losses from
software profits. Mr Ando said Sony could cope with a reduction in
the cycle to three years, in which case it would aim to release
PlayStation 3 earlier than planned.
The Xbox is released in Europe in March 2002. The expected price
is £299.
