Neither Sony nor Microsoft have announced the price points for their next-generation consoles, allowing speculation to take center stage. Now, Wed bush Securities analyst Michael Pachter has added fuel to the fire, according to a GamesIndustry International report.
Pachter believes that the Xbox One will cost $400, while the PlayStation 4 will retail for $350 at launch. In a note to investors, he states that these figures are based on bills of material figures for both consoles. The Xbox One supposedly costs $325 to manufacture, while each individual PlayStation 4 will cost $275 to create. Though the Xbox One is predicted to be more costly to produce and more expensive to buy, Pachter also predicts that will offer a subsidized model of the Xbox One, in which the console will retail for a reduced price, so long as users also buy into a subscription plan. As Pachter says in the investor note:
"We believe the ability to watch live TV from a cable, telco, or satellite set-top box through Xbox One could entice an MSO to drive subscriptions through a subsidised box in exchange for a multi-year contract...The 'always connected' requirement for the Xbox One likely means that a broadband connection will be required, suggesting to us that ISPs may have an incentive to offer a subsidy as well."
Though the price of the upcoming next-gen consoles has not yet been revealed, many have speculated that they would cost less at launch than the current crop of consoles. It is unclear if Sony and Microsoft will launch multiple versions of their respective consoles, or if only one model will be available for each console. Sony and Microsoft will most likely reveal how much their consoles will cost at E3, which runs from June 9-11. Both companies have a press conference scheduled for June 10, so gamers should tune in then to see how much the systems will cost.