If you’ve been to the gaming department of a retailer recently, you may have noticed a massive stack of Xbox One consoles. It’s not necessarily that there’s no demand for Microsoft’s latest product, it’s that production has been unreasonably high since the console’s release. Whatever the case, Microsoft need to take action before retailers get tired of overabundance of product using up real estate in their store, and thankfully they are.
In order to combat surplus, CFO Amy Hood has announced Microsoft’s plan to slow down production, stating that they will “channel inventory drawdown for Xbox One“.
Some speculate that one million of the 4.2 million confirmed shipped to retailer Xbox One consoles are left unsold. This has caused a pile up of Xbox One bundles, which isn’t too good for the console’s image when you consider the competing PS4 still remains out of stock at some stores.
Although April is a time when the industry slows down, the Xbox One is only one month out from one of its biggest months of the year. March saw the release of several important multiplatform titles, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, and Titanfall. Things aren’t going to get better any time soon with Summer approaching.
At this point the best bet is to move forward with drawdown, and make sure that a price drop is in the cards. I love my Xbox One, but it’s hard to justify a $499 purchase for anything in this day and age. Hitting the $399 mark or below should clear plenty of inventory.
[Source: GamaSutra]
