A german site, Xbox-Archiv, has a few interesting rumors from “good sources” inside Microsoft (German division?). These sources tell them that the Xbox 360 Core edition will be canned, the Premium will have a price drop to 299 Euros down from 399 Euros, and a new edition (Codenamed Zephyr) will come in at 399 Euros and feature the HDMI port and 120GB hard drive.
So how likely are these rumors? Here are some numbers we arbitrarily pulled out of our arses.
• Xbox 360 Core edition dropped: 70%. It’s pretty likely that Microsoft will can the low-end Xbox 360. After all, we’ve rarely even seen a green box whenever we visit our local Best Buy or Fry’s. Plus, if they really are going to release an updated version, they need room to push the current Premium down.
• Xbox 360 Premium price drop: 90%. It’s been about a year and a half since launch, and although the original Xbox’s price drop history isn’t quite relevant here because Microsoft wanted to lower the price faster to compete with the PS2, it does show a trend that they could be prepared to follow. And May seems like the right time to do so.
• Zephyr Edition with HDMI, 120GB Hard Drive: 30%. Somehow May seems too soon for a new edition of the Xbox 360. The current one is doing fine (save for HDMI support), but there’s no gigantic reason for Microsoft to update right now. We’d probably expect them to release an update around Christmas, or 2008.
source: gizmodo.it – Jason Chen