Yeah, that's true. Consoles are always built with price in mind, but on the other hand, If Microsoft (or Sony) set their prices to 499€ (highly possible) they still have wiggle room in terms of final price. If one company reveals their price for 549€ (for example), then second company can decide it they just want to match the price, or undercut them by 50+€.
It's no-brainer, than Microsoft can afford bigger loss on one console then Sony and with recent promotion of the whole Xbox division in Microsoft's hierarchy i think, that Spencer has biggest support from CEO of Microsoft ever.
But my prediction is 499€ each. Microsoft then can have a marketing around "more power/same price"