September 02, 2009

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) said it would lower the price of its high-end Xbox 360 model by a quarter in Japan, keeping pace with Sony's (6758.T) launch of a cheaper PlayStation 3 ahead of the critical shopping season. Microsoft plans to cut the price of the Xbox 360 Elite, which comes with a 120-gigabyte hard disk drive, to 29,800 yen ($321) on Sept. 10 from 39,800 yen.

The price of the entry-level Xbox Arcade model will stay at 19,800 yen in Japan, and the company will phase out its mid-range Xbox 360 model with a 60-GB hard drive, in line with its announcements last week for outside Japan.

Microsoft said then that it was cutting the price of the Elite model by $100 to $299.99 in the United States and by 50 euros to 249.99 euros in Europe. [ID:nN27198242] Sony, which competes head-on with Microsoft in terms of functionality of their game consoles and target users, said two weeks ago that it would launch a slimmer, cheaper version of the PlayStation 3, in a bid to jump-start sales. [ID:nLI152101]

Following Microsoft's price cut announcements last week for markets outside Japan, Nintendo Co Ltd (7974.OS) said it has no plan to lower prices of its top-selling Wii console.

The Wii sells for 25,000 yen in Japan, compared with the new Xbox 360 Elite price of 29,800 yen and 29,980 yen for the slimmer PS3 model, which will hit store shelves on Thursday. ($1=92.78 Yen) (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Joseph Radford)

Source:-http://www.reuters.com