Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer, has dismissed the suggestion that his company cut the Xbox 360's price because it could come up with no other ways to boost sales.

Asked by The Mercury News whether cutting prices was all Microsoft could do to compete with the Wii and PS3, Ballmer said, "No, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard anybody say. All consoles start at higher prices. They always come down through the long cycle."

Challenged about Microsoft having indicated in the past that it wouldn't cut the price of the 360 because it had such a strong games line-up, Ballmer said, "Price is not something you discuss externally. Nobody ever does. So, whether we were planning on cutting price the next day or in six months or a year, we're not going to discuss price changes.

"If you ask me, Xbox Live is going gangbusters. The console is selling well."

In the UK, it was recently revealed that 2.3 million Xbox 360s have been sold, compared to 3.6 million Wiis and 1.4 million PS3s.

^{Source: The Mercury News}