Xbox 360 to launch in Europe on November 25 at 299 UKP

[Slay]

All according to sources of Gamesindustry.biz, to add up a little to that article, at the current rate 299 pounds are 430 euros.

High price tag expected for hardware and games following Kutaragi's PS3 price warning

Highly placed sources in the UK industry have told GamesIndustry.biz that the Xbox 360 is set to launch in Europe on November 25th, with the US launch preceding a few days earlier - and the price tag may be as high as UKP 299.

According to our sources, speaking under conditions of strict anonymity, the official announcement of the European date will be made by Microsoft to its trade partners on the 15th of this month, two days before a public announcement at Game Convention in Leipzig.

the rest of the article here http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=10605

 

[typoEDR]

If I have my conversions right, that's well over $500 US (I probably don't though). That's an enormous cost...

 

[Slay]

If I have my conversions right, that's well over $500 US (I probably don't though). That's an enormous cost...

Almost $530 US and yeah it's prety expensive.

 

[London Geezer]

Still doing the USD 1 = GBP 1 thing i see. They'll never learn. As of today, that's almost double the price you'll pay in the US, if it launches at USD299 there.

 

[Titanio]

That can't be right. They launched at the same price last time and they barely sold any console after the first couple of weeks.

I'm sure it'll be €350, no more.

 

[Mefisutoferesu]

This is one thing I've never understood... why in the world does Europe end up getting screwed over so much?? Would it kill to standardize the console prices worldwide? Seriously, can anyone explain it? LB and all those in Europe my most sincere simpathy goes out to you.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Wow, that blows ass for you guys, but the article said "may be up to $299" so hopefully it's lower.

I don't see why they screw you guys over so much, it's in their best interest to have a nice low cost in europe especially, try and take some of that market share.

I wonder if they'll give us a good deal up in canada, #1 xbox country in the world...they better show us some love!

 

[London Geezer]

This is one thing I've never understood... why in the world does Europe end up getting screwed over so much?? Would it kill to standardize the console prices worldwide? Seriously, can anyone explain it? LB and all those in Europe my most sincere simpathy goes out to you.

Beats me.

Apparently the brits earn more proportionally to the americans... err... Oh and they also blame "localisation", which means fitting a different plug mainly. Definately worth double the price huh

Anyway, it's ridiculous, whatever valid reasons they might have, it will never justify double the price.

This might be my own conspiracy theory, but personally i've always thought Europe and the UK pays for the cheaper prices everywhere else, especially in the US. Companies like Sony and MS might believe that winning the US market means a lot, therefore pricing things there very competitively, knowing they're going to make the money back from the extortionate prices they charge everywhere else - i think Japan also gets screwed, more or less, though it surely is less than us. We're paying for americans' low prices.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

LOL. This isn't even official. It's just speculation.

 

[Hardknock]

I thought there was some kind of taxes or fees included in these prices, that's why they're so much higher?

 

[Carl B]

I think honestly it's because the Europeans have never known anything else that they believe they can continue to get away with it. I'm sure Sony and Microsoft and all of them think it's wrong what you guys have to go through, but nobody wants to be the company to pull the plug on the gravy train.

 

[Titanio]

I thought there was some kind of taxes or fees included in these prices, that's why they're so much higher?

Sales tax is the norm in Europe. The upper end of that would be 20%.

$299 + 20% = $358. Which would be much less than €350. Which is why that should be the upper limit, IMO.

After their previous experience with £299/€430 in Europe, I'd be shocked if MS would launch at that price again. Sony got away with it with the PS2 - somehow - but after the Xbox launch experience I don't see how MS could risk it.

I think honestly it's because the Europeans have never known anything else that they believe they can continue to get away with it. I'm sure Sony and Microsoft and all of them think it's wrong what you guys have to go through, but nobody wants to be the company to pull the plug on the gravy train.

Nintendo had a very fair launch in Europe, IIRC, price-wise. At least relatively speaking.

 

[akira888]

Don't forget about Europe's often ridiculously high import tariffs. Remember all of the trouble Sony went to in 2000 to get the Europeans to apply the "computer" tariff schedule to PS2 instead of the "video game" schedule. There was a reason for that action.

 

[rusty]

you know i mentioned hairy arse kissing a while ago...

well i think Mr Moore better pucker up, because it's going to be kissing time if this is true. It's not that i can't afford to buy the console at 300, but i will not buy it as a matter of principle at a completely ludicrous and extortionate 1GBP to 1USD rate.


I've said it many times, $299 should equal a price of 220-250 GBP at the most... that more than accounts for both VAT and any other costs ($299 + 17.5% VAT equals under 210 GBP so really it should be 220 at most)

not only that, but people really are getting sick of being screwed over - i have many friends who are all for buying a 360 but will change their mind, at least for the time being, if microsoft screw europeans with price again. I am not here to subsidize the american market, i am a valuable customer from a very important consumer base... a consumer base in which sony is currently kicking your arse microsoft - how about you actually try and fight sony rather than help them out.

 

[Powderkeg]

This is one thing I've never understood... why in the world does Europe end up getting screwed over so much?? Would it kill to standardize the console prices worldwide? Seriously, can anyone explain it? LB and all those in Europe my most sincere simpathy goes out to you.

Import tax. MS doesn't pay any for consoles sold in North America, but they have to pay almost a third of the value of the system in tax and tariffs in Europe. So they would need to sell the system for a minimum of $399 US in Europe just to cover the taxes, and then there is the extra shipping costs, localization costs, and a little extra profit for the trouble all added in there.

They could do a unified world-wide price if they could just get every country in the world to drop their import taxes, and lower their sales taxes to equal to the US, get everyone in the world to speak western English, and find someone who will ship the consoles across the ocean for free.

 

[rusty]

Import tax. MS doesn't pay any for consoles sold in North America, but they have to pay almost a third of the value of the system in tax and tariffs in Europe.

even including tax, 300 is way above covering the extra costs... see my post above.

 

[Powderkeg]

even including tax, 300 is way above covering the extra costs... see my post above.

See my edit. It's more than just taxes.

 

[Titanio]

They could do a unified world-wide price if they could just get every country in the world to drop their import taxes, and lower their sales taxes to equal to the US, get everyone in the world to speak western English, and find someone who will ship the consoles across the ocean for free.

Or they could manufacture within the EU and sell for ~€300. In fact, I thought MS did manufacture Xbox in Hungary? I believe that manufacturing may have been moved, however.

Even still, that doesn't explain why, for example, japanese console manufacturers, whos consoles are usually manufactured in Japan or China, sell for one price in the US and a much higher one in Europe. And what's import tax on Xboxs like from Mexico to the US (NA Xboxes are manufactured in Mexico)? There's import tax in all these cases, AFAIK. Unless European tax on such goods is a lot higher, but I have my doubts it'd be THAT much higher.

But yeah, I would think it'd pay any of the manufacturers to perhaps manufacture in Europe (many Eastern European countries would be cheap for this, and are now part of the EU). Could give them a distinct pricing advantage over companies that import too.

£299/€430 would be more than a 75% increase over a US price of $299. I'd be surprised if sales and import duties accounted for that (especially when the US price is often subject to import duty too - although at a different rate).

 

[rusty]

powderkeg - even with all that it doesn't justify the 300usd equals 300gbp price tag.

as the man above said we are talking more than 175% of the US price here.

localisation costs - first of all for the UK there are no language localisation costs, so that is immediately nullified in regards to that. Even with other countries, the actual localisation costs for the console itself are minimal - especially when compared to that of an entire game. Power adaptor wise, the unit should be the same (what decent electronics unit can't accept a 110-220v input these days) with merely the "kettle cord" being different - a part that is already mass produced in it's respective contries and therefore not a problem regarding price.


as mentioned, my xbox was made in hungary iirc.. in which case shipping to the US should be the most expensive....

VAT in the UK is 17.5%, plus there may be some other taxes, but we're still a long way off this 75%

whatever way you try to cut it, that kinda price just isn't justified

 

[Titanio]

as mentioned, my xbox was made in hungary iirc.. in which case shipping to the US should be the most expensive....

European Xboxes were manufactured in Hungary. NA Xboxes in Mexico. There'd be import tax in both cases though, I'd assume. I'm not sure if the European tax would be higher, but even if it was..enough to warrant such a gulf in price?

(It should be noted that Hungary was outside the EU back when Xbox launched, so yes, there would have been import tax. Hungary is now part of the EU, but I believe that manufacturing was moved to China).

edit - back in PS2's launch, import duty into the EU for videogames systems was 2.2%. Sony was trying to get PS2 classified as a computer in order to avail of 0% import duty (and is interesting to think about when considering Kutaragi's comments about PS3 as a computer ).

So if you take a US price of $299 as a "base" price, then add 2.2% for import duty - that makes $305.6, then add 20% for sales tax, that makes $366.7. Convert that to euro, and that = €296.95. One wonders then, why they can't in fact match dollar to euro with their pricing. Nintendo launched GameCube at €250, which at the time was equal to $216. GameCube launched in the US at $200 - so that was quite a "fair" launch price, relatively speaking.