There was rumor before, that the Chinese Xbox One will sport a whopping $800 (4,999 RMB) price tag. But a picture leaked yesterday seems to put consumers at ease, bringing down the price of Xbox One "limited edition" to 3,499 RMB ($565). I should mention that every price tag in China is the after-tax price. For something labeled $500 pre-tax in the United States, $65 extra for tax and tariff isn't bad at all. The price even competes well against Xbox Ones smuggled into China (how the majority of Chinese consumers are buying game consoles in the past decade), which are mostly in the 3,100 - 3,700 RMB range on Taobao, China's most popular online shopping site.
According to the leaked picture, the 3,499 RMB bundle includes the console itself, one "customized" controller, the Kinect sensor, plus:
- 100 RMB coupon for shopping on major e-commerce website JD.com.
- Another 100 RMB coupon for buying a second controller.
- Gif pack" (content unclear) worth up to 1,000 RMB.
- 3 "blockbuster games" (not clear which three yet).
Plus, by China's government-mandated service standard for consumer electronics, the Chinese Xbox One comes with 2 years of warranty.
Chinese Microsoft-centric news site WPDang consulted their insider source, and confirmed that said price and bundled contents are very credible.
Microsoft and its Chinese partner BesTV are expected to demonstrate the Chinese Xbox One on the ChinaJoy expo (July 31 - August 3, in Shanghai). We will know more about console's launch in China in the coming days.
Source: WPDang, Sina Weibo
