X360 market stability still unmatched, Elite demand surpasses expectations

When the Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite was announced last March, analysts pondered on whether there’s a market for the system and how current system owners will receive the package. Many assumed that only the hardcore crowd would respond, but things didn’t play out the way the mavens saw it.

The online demand for the higher-end Xbox 360 package has eclipsed the Core and Premium bundles, which is pretty impressive when you consider that the Elite was listed on retailers for only three weeks and is currently unavailable. This isn’t to say that the Core and Premium are weakening, as both have shown a stable market performance since the console launched.

As the Nintendo  Wii fever cools down a bit, the Xbox 360 Elite still finds itself trailing by a lofty 40 percent in the monthly charts. However, it is important to note that even when demand for all three consoles weakened at the tail-end of the first quarter, Microsoft’s game machine was the least affected in terms of sales drops.

The same cannot be said of last generation’s console king Sony. It’s still at the bottom of the current-gen machines and the gap is widening significantly. The Sony PlayStation 3 has experienced a 20 percent decline in demand and its sales barely amounted to half of the Wii’s.

Analysts still point to pricing as one of the key factors in winning the console wars. The Xbox 360 Elite  will be priced at lower rates than the PS3 despite new and better hardware included. The platform still hosts the widest game library of the three and has the most vibrant online gaming community with its Xbox Live network.

Via Compete

When the Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite was announced last March, analysts pondered on whether there’s a market for the system and how current system owners will receive the package. Many assumed that only the hardcore crowd would respond, but things didn’t play out the way the mavens saw it.

The online demand for the higher-end Xbox 360 package has eclipsed the Core and Premium bundles, which is pretty impressive when you consider that the Elite was listed on retailers for only three weeks and is currently unavailable. This isn’t to say that the Core and Premium are weakening, as both have shown a stable market performance since the console launched.

As the Nintendo  Wii fever cools down a bit, the Xbox 360 Elite still finds itself trailing by a lofty 40 percent in the monthly charts. However, it is important to note that even when demand for all three consoles weakened at the tail-end of the first quarter, Microsoft’s game machine was the least affected in terms of sales drops.

The same cannot be said of last generation’s console king Sony. It’s still at the bottom of the current-gen machines and the gap is widening significantly. The Sony PlayStation 3 has experienced a 20 percent decline in demand and its sales barely amounted to half of the Wii’s.

Analysts still point to pricing as one of the key factors in winning the console wars. The Xbox 360 Elite  will be priced at lower rates than the PS3 despite new and better hardware included. The platform still hosts the widest game library of the three and has the most vibrant online gaming community with its Xbox Live network.

Via Compete