The Microsoft Xbox One launched back in November 2013 and it was the third installment in the Xbox series of game consoles. The Xbox One is the successor to the old Xbox 360 which was indeed a great console. However, the Xbox One wasn’t quite successful. As compared to its competitor, the Sony PlayStation 4, the Xbox One sold only 3 million units (as of 2013) and the PlayStation 4 sold a whopping 4.2 million units as of 2013. The Xbox One was sold a lot fewer units than the PlayStation 4. The PlayStation 4 sold a whopping 40 million units as of March 2016 but Microsoft didn’t even reveal the sale figures for the Xbox One after 2013. At E3 2016, Microsoft did announce the Xbox One S and the Project Scorpio, which are going to be the successors of the Xbox One. After some recent events, it seems like the Xbox One is entering the ending phase of its life. Here are the reasons why Microsoft may stop manufacturing Xbox One:
Reasons Why Microsoft May Stop Manufacturing Xbox One
1) Xbox One S and Project Scorpio are Coming:
The Xbox One S is the slimmer version of the Xbox One. It is going to support HDR gaming and 4K-movie while being a lot smaller than the Xbox One. The Xbox One S is also going to have bigger storage capacities (up to 2TB) and it is going to have a built-in power supply. Overall, it is going to be a lot better than the Xbox One. Recently, Microsoft has confirmed the release date of the Xbox One S. The slimmer Xbox One is coming on August 2, 2016. Microsoft also announced Project Scorpio, which is going to feature 6TFLOPS and support high-fidelity VR gaming. The Project Scorpio is going to be a whole new powerful console from Microsoft which is expected to launch next year. Reports say that it is going to be powered by AMD “Zen” and “Polaris” architectures.
With Xbox One S coming next month and Project Scorpio coming next year, it is difficult to imagine if Microsoft is still going to manufacture the Xbox One. It is likely that Microsoft will continue with the Xbox One S.
2) Recent Price Drops:
The Xbox One’s price has recently dropped to $249. In the last 2 months, Microsoft dropped the price of the Xbox One three times. Every time the price of the Xbox One got dropped, it did have an end date. But this time, Major Nelson only mentioned that it is for a limited time but he didn’t mention any end dates. Seems like Microsoft is trying to sell-out the Xbox One stock fast, before the launch of Xbox One S.
With the recent price drops, the company may not be willing to produce more of its base models of the Xbox One since the costs are similar to the Xbox One S and won’t generate many sales compared to the similar priced Xbox One S.
3) Inventory Clearance:
With the recent price drops, it seems like Microsoft is trying to sell out the inventory of the Xbox One to make room for the upcoming Xbox One S. Or maybe they’re trying to squeeze as many sales as possible from the Xbox One to match the sales of the PlayStation 4.
The 500GB Xbox One S is listed for $299 on Amazon and the 500GB Xbox One costs $249 right now. With the price-tags being very close, I don’t see any reason from Microsoft to continue manufacturing the Xbox One.
So there you have it, these are the reasons why Microsoft may stop manufacturing Xbox One. However, I would still say that the Xbox One is a great console and Microsoft is not going to end the support for it just now but they may stop manufacturing it.
