Analyst predicts an Xbox One X failure in the near future

The launch of Microsoft’s Xbox One X console is still a few months out and people are already weighing in on whether they think it will succeed or not. Someone who thinks it might not do so well is analyst, Michael Pachter, who suspects that the $500 price tag could be an issue for consumers.

“An Xbox One X costs as much as an Xbox One S and PS4 Slim combined,” Pachter states. “So if you don’t have an Xbox One yet, any kind, why would you buy a One X instead of a One S, and a PS4 to go with it too? I just don’t get it. I don’t think they are doing themselves any favour at this price point. I know they are selling the appeal of 4K, but let’s be real, probably fewer than 10% of US households have a 4KTV, and certainly way less than that in any other developed country. So who is waiting for this? Next year, maybe around the end of 2017, we’ll probably be closer to 20% US households, and 10% for the rest of the world. And by the end of 2018, we’ll probably be at 35% and 20% respectively, and by 2019, we’ll probably be at 50% and 30%. So yes, it’s a more relevant purchase down the line, but… at $500, if I had only that money in my pocket, and I had to choose between an Xbox One X and a 4KTV, I wold buy a 4K TV. So, they’re only appealing to people who have $1100, because they have to buy a TV as well. This is the same problem Oculus faced. I really think the Xbox One X will not do well.”

Something Pachter fails to acknowledge though is that while the Xbox One X will be selling for a higher price than the Xbox One S, it’ll actually be retailing for the same price as the original Xbox One when it launched a few years ago (though it was also bundled with the Kinect sensor). The price isn’t actually that high especially when it’s compared to the cost of building a gaming PC with similar specs and/or the price of an HDR 4K Blu-ray player which can retail between $150 and $400 depending on the brand. There’s also the fact that the Xbox One X does more than offer 4K graphics in video games, it will also make them load faster and run smoother, something a 4K television set isn’t needed to experience.

What do you think? Do you agree with this analyst’s predictions or has he missed the mark? Let us know in the comments below.