A number of analysts have predicted an Elite price drop in line with industry expectations, despite Microsoft remaining tight-lipped over an Xbox 360 price cut.

“I could see a model refresh with the Elite version replacing the Pro version, and maybe a price cut down to $249 to stay below the PS3 price,” Signal Hill’s Todd Greenwald told IndustryGamers.

“I think Natal is the next big thing from Microsoft, and until then it will be mostly price cuts and small tweaks to the different models (bigger hard drive, various games bundled in, etc).”

Lazard Capital’s Colin Sebastian aggress that SKU tinkering will most likely remain Microsoft’s strategy for the time being.

“Based on market share, the Xbox pricing strtegy has driven sales, particularly on the Arcade version,” he added. “Going forward, I would expect them to focus on shifting the sales mix towards versions of the Xbox with hard drives.

“This would be preferable for both game developers, who have more flexibility when the consoles have local storage capacity, and also the Xbox Live service, in order to drive increasing usage of content downloads.”