Microsoft has announced a $50 price drop for their Xbox One with Kinect 2 hardware bundle, effectively reducing the price from $499 to $449.

The new price drop is only available until February 21st, but if the success of their Kinect-less bundle hardware drop is any indication, this could become yet another price drop with no “official end date”. The new deal will be honored by “most national retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Target, Toys R Us and Walmart, as well as Microsoft Stores”.

It gets even more interesting when you look at an interview with industry analyst Michael Pachter and GameInformer, who said he doesn’t believe the Kinect-less hardware discount will ever go away:

“On January 16 they said ‘Effective tomorrow we have special promotional pricing of $349.’ It didn’t say temporary, and it didn’t put a date of when it ends, which is really curious. It’s not officially a price cut – it’s promotional pricing. This allows the retailer to advertise regularly $399 and now it’s $349, but I have a feeling it will never go back up.”

Despite the price cuts that Microsoft is making, they are still trailing behind the Playstation 4 in sheer hardware numbers. Do you guys own an Xbox One? Regardless of your ownership, do you think these price cuts might allow Microsoft to catch up to Sony?