As you may have heard, the Xbox 360 launched today and already they are impossible to find. This “shortage” wasn’t planned, according to Peter Moore, Microsoft VP. I’m not so sure.
If it is a marketing ploy, it is a brilliant one. Like the article indicates, the demand for this system has skyrocketed due to the shortage making this item the must have system of 2005.
Unfortunately, I think it is and will continue to be, a successful way to launch major consoles in the near future. It worked with the PS2 and the PSP, so why not the Xbox 360?
That said, I don’t think that they are sitting on a stockpile of Xbox 360s. I think they left production too late for the launch date (possibly on purpose – to keep hardware costs as low as possible) and came up short. They probably should have been able to forsee this months in advance, before they picked the launch date. Fortunately for them, it will work out all right.
The people who are really profitting however, are the Ebay sellers. I’ve seen these consoles sell for thousands of dollars. I mean, it looks like a really fun system but I don’t think it is worth that.
I’m looking forward to next spring, when the exact same thing is going to happen for the PS3.
Later Bloggies.
Tags: Video Games