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Microsoft slashes Xbox price
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Microsoft Corp. on Thursday slashed the price of its Xbox computer game console by 20 percent in Europe, its third price cut in just over a year as it tries to keep its slim hold on No. 2 market position. The company will sell Xbox units for 199 euros ($214.40) in continental Europe and 129 pounds ($201.90) in Britain, bringing its prices below market leader Sony's PlayStation 2 and Nintendo's GameCube. Microsoft and Nintendo have been battling neck and neck for the No. 2 position across Europe, a fast growing market. Nintendo and some of its retailers have been offering a series of promotional discounts recently to spur tepid demand for GameCube, which carries an average retail price of 199 euros. Sony, in an effort to maintain its market lead, has been offering consumers the PlayStation 2 console plus a game at many retail locations in Britain for 169 pounds, and for between 249 euros and 259 euros in continental Europe. A Sony Computer Entertainment Europe spokesman declined to comment on whether they may retaliate with a price cut. Nintendo could not be immediately reached for comment. Microsoft announced its price cut a month before the annual E3 trade show in the United States. In past years, the console makers had waited for the event to make pricing announcements. Analysts and industry watchers say that Sony and Nintendo may also drop the prices on their consoles in the coming weeks to boost traditionally slower sales in the summer. Microsoft, which launched Xbox in Europe in March 2002, last cut prices in September to 160 pounds in the UK and 249 euros in continental Europe. That price cut led to strong Christmas sales and vaulted Xbox to Europe's No. 2 spot, firmly behind Sony's PlayStation 2. Microsoft said on Thursday it had sold two million Xbox units in Europe so far, putting it narrowly ahead of GameCube but well behind PlayStation 2.
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