In view of poor market performance of its Xbox 360 game console during the past few months, Microsoft (News - Alert) is reportedly planning to slash the price of this product in Japan.

 

Recent market analysis about game consoles suggests that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is struggling to beat competition from its rivals, especially Nintendo and Sony.

 

According to a news report mentioning NPD Group’s (News - Alert) July 2008 video games sales report, Xbox 360 sold 204,800 consoles in July, but was pushed to fifth position in the second consecutive month in the sale of video game consoles. Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and PSP are ruling the console market ahead of Xbox 360.

 

In June, Microsoft  sold 219,800 game consoles. This number, though higher than the July sales figure, was less than the sales achieved by four of the major game consoles in June. However, NPD noted that the gap between the sales of Xbox 360 and the major competition PlayStation 3 was reduced in July.

 

Among the game titles sold in July, Xbox’s “NCAA Football 9” topped the chart, with 397,600 units sold. However, Nintendo seized the control of the market with four of the top ten games being Wii titles and with “Guitar Hero On Tour” for Nintendo DS gaining the third place of the game titles sold in July.

 

In June, Xbox’s “Ninja Gaiden 2” was pushed to the third place, with Sony’s “Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots” and “Guitar Hero: On Tour” from Nintendo DS maintaining the lead.

 

Tokyo, home of the dominant Nintendo and Sony, is a tough market for Microsoft. The company is now hoping to woo customers by reducing the price of its game consoles.  

 

According to a Japanese daily, The Nikkei, Microsoft will reduce the price of the cheapest model of its gaming console by about 29 percent to 19,800 yen ($180). The report further said that Microsoft would reduce the prices of other models. This price reduction will give Xbox 360 a cutting edge over its competitions. At present, the Wii costs 25,000 yen ($230) and the PlayStation 3 model with 40 gigabytes hard drive sells for about 40,000 yen ($370).

 

Earlier this year, Microsoft reduced the price of its 20-gigabyte Xbox 360 in the U.S. to $299, down from $350, but didn't adjust prices on other models. This price reduction coincides with the introduction of a heavier model with 60 GB storage space offered at $350.

 

So far, Microsoft has sold 20 million Xbox machines worldwide. However, it has not disclosed its unit sales figure for the Japanese market. Analysts think that means Microsoft sold fewer Xbox’s in Japan than in other markets.

 

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