Bloomberg just posted an exclusive story on the PS3 - Sony May Post Biggest Loss in 4 Years on PlayStation 3 Consoles
What I found most interesting in the article - other than Sony’s losses on the PS3 may wipe out their gains from Bravia TV sales AND their Spiderman franchise - were the comments of a Japanese securities analyst who predicted the following:
A 20% price cut in the PS3 would effectively drop the price of the unit to $479, the same as the 360 Elite. While I think the Xbox 360 is a better gaming machine across the board, I can see how a price cut of that magnitude would attract those loyal PS users who have been holding off because of the $600 price.
If Sony does drop the price of the PS3 - and they drop it in time for the holiday season - that means that in 6 months time, we’ll be seeing PS3’s discounted down to $479.
No I don’t think you did.
Thank you for enlighten me about this totally awesome and absolutely worth buying a PS3 for game!
You made me a happy camper.
Seriously now: I’m happy with my PS2 so why bother until they have at least 10 must-have exclusive titels out.
A machine I paid $600 for and collecting dust is as good or bad as a machine I paid $479 for.
If Motostorm came free! But it won’t. The cost for a PS3 + Motostorm (veterans of Qt3 are having flashbacks to an earlier thread of mine, I’m sure) would be $539…
Which roughly equals 9 Xbox 360 games…
So even if Sony does slash its pricetag… the choice would be $539 for a PS3 with Motostorm versus the following 2007 Xbox 360 releases:
Halo 3
Mass Effect
BioShock
Blue Dragon
Forza Motosport 2
Grand Theft Auto IV
Too Human
Half Life 2 - Episodes 1, 2 and Team Fortress
Unreal Tournament III
$479 is still too expensive. It’s too expensive for Microsoft, too, but at least they don’t have to rely on Elite sales to drive revenue. And if Sony announces a price cut, expect Microsoft’s to follow. Probably the very same week.
Look at it this way: the 360 premium is too expensive already. It’s not so expensive that it doesn’t sell, but it hasn’t been seeing Nintendo-juggernaut-type sales despite a wealth of great games, and price is probably the sole reason (at least in this country). But it’s been doing okay. Sony’s 20% price cut will still leave them nearly $80 higher than Microsoft’s premium price, which was already pushing the limit. If Microsoft does a price drop, OTOH, it could bring them down into the range of last-gen pricing. I suspect that’s going to be “buy now” territory for a lot of people. Either way, you’re still going to be walking into a store and seeing a nearly $200 price differential between the two. That alone will make most peoples’ decisions for them.
The assumption is that a large percentage of the PS3’s target audience already owns a 360. IMHO that’s probably a pretty safe assumption to make at this point.
Before we go down this road again, let me explicitly make the point that I was implicitly making -
In years past, many of us here have owned multiple consoles, some have owned all three. This is the first time that I only own one - the 360 (though I did recently pick up a PSP).
I look at the price drop as an opportunity to decide whether it’s worth adding another console to the home line-up. As is, I think the bench is deep enough with the 360.
Obviously, YMMV if you don’t own an existing console.
I do not own an existing console, other than a PS2. I do not find myself playing my PS2 enough to justify anything over $300 for any new console, regardless of maker. Even $300 is a 50/50 decision (that I, for obvious reasons have not had to make - I would never get a Nintendo).
So with respect to my situation, I imagine that I am years down the road before picking one of these up. The pricing has moved the decision for me to requiring a lot of use from it, and I know that I do not use it that heavily. In that decision, I’m also factoring in the annual connectivity costs, the increasing use of micropurchase junk, etc., along with the more expensive titles.
That’s how I feel. No console is worth $479 or even $399. That’s just too much. I don’t buy $300 videocards either.
But yes, if I was interested in a $479 console, the PS3 dropping to to that price point would interest me. I’d get the bluray player too with it. That’s nice. Price drops usually help.
It’s funny how a few weeks back on GAF, people were actually considering the photo slideshow feature the most impressive bit of tech pumping out of the PS3.
We (my bank) have Sony Europe coming in to see us on Friday to talk through the numbers. It should be an interesting meeting as lots of our clients are SHORT Sony into the results.
