Microsoft has confirmed that it is substantially cutting the price of the Xbox 360 across all three stock keeping units (SKUs) this Friday.

The biggest cut is on the price of the Xbox 360 Premium. Microsoft is slashing an impressive £50 from the current price, bringing it down to £199.99. The Elite and Arcade will both have £40 hacked from their current prices, bringing them down to £259.99 and £159.99 respectively.

That's right, £159.99 - £19 less than the estimated retail price (ERP) of Nintendo's Wii. The Elite, with its 120GB of hard disk space, is also now £40 cheaper than the £299 40GB PS3.

Naturally the announcement isn't passing us by without a chirpy corporo-quote. “Xbox 360 is now mass market in Europe”, Chris Lewis , VP of Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business Europe, tells us. “We have reached and surpassed several key milestones that form part of our long term strategic plan to achieve critical mass in Europe; and our portfolio now offers the kind of mainstream entertainment experiences that secure wider appeal for Xbox 360. These factors allow us to execute on our strategy to widen the market for Xbox 360, as planned.

“We continue to offer intense, immersive gaming experiences for gamers – but now we’re priced in a way that will allow new consumers to find out for themselves why Xbox 360 is the ultimate in high-definition entertainment”, Lewis continues. “History shows that £159.99 is the price point where a console’s audience begins to expand, and with these new ERPs in place we’re ready to bring more consumers into the Xbox 360 world.”

Ah, right. It's not a response to the Wii's soaring sales or boisterous claims from Sony that the PS3 will have a larger installed base than the 360 by the end of summer, then?

Microsoft took the opportunity to throw an interesting little fact our way. "Xbox 360 is the number one next-gen console in EMEA, owning 42% of the market in terms of life-to-date revenue", the announcement tells us. That's right, in Europe, the Middle East and Africa... The announcement also confirms the software attach rate for the 360 as 7 titles per console sold. That compares to 3.8 for the PS3 and 3.5 for the Wii.

This morning SPOnG brought you the rumours of a European price cut doing the rounds.