Limits placed on Xbox 360 stock

Retailers have seen the open availability of Xbox 360 hardware brought to an abrupt halt in the UK as Microsoft begins to manage its current stock ahead of its Xbox 360 SKU reshuffle.

Retail sources have confirmed to MCV that all 360 models have been pulled from open availability, with individual stores seeing limits placed on the amount of hardware they are able to order.

This follows the pattern seen in the channel shortly before Microsoft ditched the long-forgotten Xbox 360 Core SKU in favour of the Arcade model.

However, confusion remains concerning Microsoft’s intentions regarding its Arcade SKU. Current trade pricing still seems to indicate that the Arcade SKU is to see a price increase, but MCV believes that the listing is but a placeholder for the platform holder’s new SKU – most likely an RRP-reduced Xbox 360 Elite to take the place of the current Pro model.

Further evidence of Xbox SKU changes emerged over the weekend via Engadget, which has pictures of a white-boxed Xbox 360 Elite – the packaging of which, incidentally, carries no mention of the soon to be scrapped Pro SKU.