Sony "considering" PS3 price drop
Will wonders never cease. It's finally happening. Well, not quite, but this is a start. According to Next Generation, Sony is considering a PlayStation 3 price drop but not anytime soon for sure.
"We may look at the [PS3's] price as part of our strategy to expand the market when the timing is right," senior VP Takao Yuhara told the Associated Press.
However, Sony's price-cutting plans remain vague. No actual reduction timeline has been announced, as the company aims to break even in its games business during fiscal 2008, which begins in April.
I know, I know ... it's all so vague and it isn't going to happen anytime soon. However, keep in mind that they've gone from not even entertaining the thought of a price drop to "considering" it.
3 comments:
Its the biggest factor holding back the machine but also the hardest one for them to take a hit on.
I do wonder if they lower price enough to stimulate the market whether that will also have a negative effect on their Blu-Ray players/partners, for the short term at least.
I'll guess and say, European Launch, get one AAA title out there and if that then doesn't shift boxes they'll swallow a price cut to stimulate things.
Question is, we know MS has a HDMI unit ready, with bigger hard drives and (given the HDMI) a HD-DVD built in. Will we see the 360.1 released later in the year with a SKU shuffle and price drops to preempt Sony? I'd say yes. Perhaps sooner if Sony gets back on its feet with the Euro launch.
I know this is going to make me sound extremely biased, but I'll say it anyway. The only thing Microsoft has going for them right now is the 360's head start and Xbox Live.
It's taken me a good few months to realize this, but there is absolutely nothing the 360 has that the PS3 can't match (except, of course, Xbox Live).
Initially I really wanted a 360 but now I'm not so sure. The PS3 games are coming, that's for sure...
I'm pretty happy with my Wii and PC which probably covers my lack of interest in the 360 and PS3 for the most part. I'd like an unreasonably lower price point to be interested in buying either console, right now I'd rather drop $600 on a new phone/pda.
I do however think MS is at its best and most innovative when trying to crush a competitor. The new SKUs and lower price points are something Sony wouldn't be able to match and perhaps something MS is prepared to take to keep that lead.
I've said it before but Sony is getting a software run like the N64 with traditional support still there. How they handle the next few of years is going to be a big decider on the second half of its life.
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