It looks like the Aussies have beaten the Americans to the punch and have confirmed that all the Xbox 360's SKU's will be receiving price reductions in Australia from July 2nd. The Arcade unit is down $50 making it cheaper than the Wii, the PRO bundle will be 80 Aussie dollars cheaper and the Elite will be receiving the same treatment.

Rumours have been swirling that the Xbox 360 is about to get another price cut in the US, following cuts in Europe and Asia earlier this year. It seems the Aussies have beaten the Americans to the punch, however, with confirmation that all of the various 360 SKUs will be receiving price reductions down under from today.

Effective from July 2, the Xbox 360 Arcade unit will receive an A$50 price drop and will now retail for A$349 ($333), A$50 cheaper than the retail price of the Nintendo Wii locally. The Xbox 360 Pro bundle will now retail for A$499 (down from A$579), while the Elite will sell for A$649 (down from A$729).

An Xbox 360 exec has also confirmed with GameSpot AU that the 360's total install base in Australia and New Zealand has now reached more than 400,000 units, putting it second in the market behind the Wii. We spoke to Jeremy Hinton, Xbox group product marketing manager for Australia and New Zealand, about the rationale behind the price cut, whether Microsoft was feeling pressure from its console competitors, and what sales impact they were expecting from today's announcement.