The Xbox One will drop to $300 for a “limited time” next week, Microsoft said today. In other words, don’t ever plan to spend more than that on the console.
See, Microsoft has a habit of announcing “limited” hardware discounts that transform into permanent ones, which is bad news for anyone who buys at the wrong time. In the fall of 2014, Microsoft offered the Xbox One for $350, or $50 cheaper than its standard Kinect-free price, promising that the discount would be “limited.” On January 3, 2015, they bumped the price back up to $400. Then, just two weeks later, it dropped to $350 again. Anyone who bought the Xbox One between January 3 and January 16 had to pay a premium for not being in the loop.
Don’t get me wrong: $300 is a pretty good price for current-gen hardware, especially if you get free games with it! This is a good thing for prospective buyers. But now that this “limited” discount is out there, you can expect it to become permanent. Don’t get caught buying at the wrong time.