All purpose sales and sales rumors/anecdotes thread next gen+

[chris1515]

I don't even know why this is being discussed.

It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for Sony (or anyone else) to drop the price of a product which is selling way, way above any expectations. Playstation is the money maker for Sony and cutting price would simply impact their profit, for no reason whatsoever. It. Will. Not. Happen. Until they really need to, of course, and that will come some time in the future, but certainly not while they're outselling their competition 2:1 or more, and smashing sales records everywhere.

Case in point, and with totally arbitrary figures just to keep things simple, but let's assume that Sony's profit is $20, at a $300 price point. A fair 7% profit margin on every unit.

Unless they cut their production costs, even a $10 reduction would halve their profit, to $10. Which means that at a price point of $290 - not that different from $300 - they would need to sell double the amount of consoles to make the same profit they were making at $300. That's from just a $10 reduction.

Imagine what happens when you reduce price by much larger amounts, as is being asked for on here. Just play with the numbers and see for yourself. From $350 (at a massive and very un-Sony-like 14% profit of $50 per unit), decreasing the price to $299 burns the profit completely and they end up making a loss of $1 per unit.

Sure, Sony is in the position of making up hardware losses through software and subscription sales, but they have stated that they have no interest in getting into the loss-making hardware selling tactics that were the norm even until the last generation. And quite rightly so, it's just not the same economy anymore, they have all moved on and the market is better for it.

When they cut production costs, only then they will even consider lowering the price. And even then, they're in the position to enjoy higher profits for quite a while when they do cut costs, as the market is devouring PS4's at the current price without many complaints.

Last but not least. Sony is starving for profits and trying to get out of the huge black hole they put themselves in over many decades. That alone should convince most people.

+1

Like Sonic said if we have 20nm process node this year and 1GDDR5 a price reduction is possible. Without this it it impossible. We know the 1Gb GDDR5 module will arrive this year but we have no idea when the process node of APU will change...

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Right.
The way things are right now, Sony is more likely to decrease the console's BoM and enjoy larger profits without decreasing the price for a while.

 

[chris1515]

Right.
The way things are right now, Sony is more likely to decrease the console's BoM and enjoy larger profits without decreasing the price for a while.

I don't think so, some people want to play PS4 but not at 400 euros/dollars. Like every generation 299 euros/dollars is the sweet spot but after this don't expect the price to decrease for a long time. At least for three or four year.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

some people want to play PS4 but not at 400 euros/dollars.

True, but naturally those people have to wait until the ones willing to pay 400€ stop buying every PS4 that Sony makes.
From the looks of it, that could take a while.

 

[chris1515]

True, but naturally those people have to wait until the ones willing to pay 400€ stop buying every PS4 that Sony makes.
From the looks of it, that could take a while.

We will see when process node will change but like other generation I think the price will go down, they have much more to win to have more people into Playstation ecosystem.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for Sony (or anyone else) to drop the price of a product which is selling way, way above any expectations.

I must have posted this about half a dozen times in this thread but it makes no difference. People will continue to post absolutely nonsense with no apparent consideration of how pricing is connected to sales and demand and while the latter are high, pricing will not move.

 

[DieH@rd]

PS4 jumps in Japan

Media Create Sales: Week 9, 2015 (Feb 23 - Mar 01)

01./00. [PS3] Dragon Quest Heroes: The Darkness Dragon and the Castle of the World Tree <RPG> (Square Enix) {2015.02.26} (¥7.344) - 325.446 / NEW
02./00. [PS4] Dragon Quest Heroes: The Darkness Dragon and the Castle of the World Tree # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2015.02.26} (¥8.424) - 269.303 / NEW
03./02. [3DS] The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D # <ADV> (Nintendo) {2015.02.14} (¥5.076) - 39.751 / 341.997
04./01. [PSV] God Eater 2: Rage Burst <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2015.02.19} (¥6.145) - 37.650 / 271.829
05./06. [3DS] Yo-kai Watch 2: Shin Uchi <RPG> (Level 5) {2014.12.13} (¥4.968) - 16.443 / 2.513.906
06./09. [3DS] Pokemon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2014.11.21} (¥4.937) - 12.680 / 2.537.857
07./00. [PSV] Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru: Jukai no Kioku # <ADV> (FuRyu) {2015.02.26} (¥6.998) - 10.622 / NEW
08./07. [PS3] Dragon Ball: Xenoverse <FTG> (Bandai Namco Games) {2015.02.05} (¥7.690) - 8.249 / 81.087
09./12. [3DS] Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS <FTG> (Nintendo) {2014.09.13} (¥5.616) - 8.159 / 2.165.812
10./30. [3DS] Nanatsu no Taizai: The Seven Deadly Sins - Unjust Sin <ADV> (Bandai Namco Games) {2015.02.11} (¥6.145) - 7.631 / 42.869
11./11. [3DS] Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate # <ACT> (Capcom) {2014.10.11} (¥6.264) - 7.595 / 2.485.659
12./03. [PS4] God Eater 2: Rage Burst <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2015.02.19} (¥7.171) - 7.405 / 45.229
13./00. [PSV] Diabolik Lovers: Dark Fate # <ADV> (Idea Factory) {2015.02.26} (¥6.264) - 7.263 / NEW
14./00. [PSV] Parfait # <ADV> (Technical Group Laboratory) {2015.02.26} (¥5.378) - 5.697 / NEW
15./10. [PS3] Samurai Warriors 4-II # <ACT> (Koei Tecmo) {2015.02.11} (¥6.264) - 5.008 / 58.518
16./13. [PS4] Dragon Ball: Xenoverse <FTG> (Bandai Namco Games) {2015.02.05} (¥7.690) - 4.995 / 59.438
17./17. [WIU] Super Smash Bros. for Wii U # <FTG> (Nintendo) {2014.12.06} (¥7.776) - 4.936 / 597.730
18./19. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf # <ETC> (Nintendo) {2012.11.08} (¥4.800) - 4.917 / 3.928.335
19./18. [WIU] Mario Kart 8 # <RCE> (Nintendo) {2014.05.29} (¥6.156) - 4.898 / 925.990
20./04. [PS4] The Order: 1886 # <ADV> (Sony Computer Entertainment) {2015.02.20} (¥6.372) - 4.840 / 29.863

HARDWARE
Code:

+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
|System | This Week  | Last Week  | Last Year  |     YTD    |  Last YTD  |     LTD     |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
|  PS4  |     46.139 |     24.737 |     65.685 |    219.014 |    374.839 |   1.189.681 |
| 3DS # |     36.596 |     38.173 |     38.013 |    495.545 |    518.026 |  18.333.990 |
| PSV # |     24.457 |     35.934 |     23.124 |    208.262 |    257.909 |   3.732.189 |
|  PS3  |      8.926 |      5.810 |     13.155 |     76.775 |    139.237 |  10.245.766 |
|  WIU  |      6.606 |      6.070 |      8.204 |     89.823 |    125.869 |   2.233.403 |
|  XB1  |        703 |      1.381 |            |      4.494 |            |      47.761 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+
|  ALL  |    123.427 |    112.105 |    148.181 |  1.093.913 |  1.415.880 |  35.782.790 |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+-------------+

 

[London Geezer]

Selling 7 times more than the WiiU. And 65 times more than the X1.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Selling 7 times more than the WiiU. And 65 times more than the X1.

You gotta hand it to Microsoft for sticking it out. Their overheads for operating in Japan have to completely obliterate any margin from sales in that territory, even allowing for games sales - unless they literally have three guys in a tiny rented office.

 

[Xbat]

That shows that if you make the software the japanese will still buy consoles. I think the problem in japan has been the big studios have chased the western market and ended up missing both audiences. Games like the soul series has shown there still is an audience for certain games just as long as you dont go crazy expecting massive sales. I'm sure the soul games must be profitable

 

[tuna]

Regarding a price drop, it is important to keep the momentum of your platform. The 300 -> 200 USD price drop on the PS2 was not needed but really gave the platform a boost.

 

[Rangers]

You gotta hand it to Microsoft for sticking it out. Their overheads for operating in Japan have to completely obliterate any margin from sales in that territory, even allowing for games sales - unless they literally have three guys in a tiny rented office.

They probably dont have much anymore. I envision most of the few XB1's sold in Japan are probably just through Amazon now. How many storefronts can even be arsed to carry x1?

Pursuing Japan like they did early in the 360 gen makes no sense at all anymore for lots of reasons, including the general decline of that market's importance.

Still, it's a microcosm of the falloff from 360 to One in relative market share.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I must have posted this about half a dozen times in this thread but it makes no difference. People will continue to post absolutely nonsense with no apparent consideration of how pricing is connected to sales and demand and while the latter are high, pricing will not move.

Yeah 2 things must happen before there's any price cut for the PS4.

1. Demand must be significantly lower than available supply (manufacturing capacity)
2. Cost must be reduced enough that it is break even or positive margins on the hardware at the new price.

Number 1 isn't happening anytime soon. Number 2 isn't happening until sometime in the 2nd half of 2016 at the earliest most likely.

In other words, wishful thinking isn't going to allow the PS4 to be priced at 299 USD this year.

Regards,
SB

 

[DrJay24]

Yeah 2 things must happen before there's any price cut for the PS4.

1. Demand must be significantly lower than available supply (manufacturing capacity)
2. Cost must be reduced enough that it is break even or positive margins on the hardware at the new price.

Number 1 isn't happening anytime soon. Number 2 isn't happening until sometime in the 2nd half of 2016 at the earliest most likely.

In other words, wishful thinking isn't going to allow the PS4 to be priced at 299 USD this year.

Regards,
SB

Considering you don't have any real knowledge about #1 or #2, your predictions are also wishful thinking. Everyone here is throwing darts at a board and claiming they are correct, lol.

 

[temesgen]

That shows that if you make the software the japanese will still buy consoles. I think the problem in japan has been the big studios have chased the western market and ended up missing both audiences. Games like the soul series has shown there still is an audience for certain games just as long as you dont go crazy expecting massive sales. I'm sure the soul games must be profitable

Relatively early in the 360 life cycle MS made a good effort in Japan by funding all those JRPG's that for me anyway were some of the best games on the platform, its a shame they stopped that initiative. I think if they had continued to invest in the development of JRPGs as well as some quirky titles that seem to well in that market they might have been able to ask some questions of Sony but they just didn't stick with it long enough and now I doubt many consumers would give them a second chance.

 

[chris1515]

Relatively early in the 360 life cycle MS made a good effort in Japan by funding all those JRPG's that for me anyway were some of the best games on the platform, its a shame they stopped that initiative. I think if they had continued to invest in the development of JRPGs as well as some quirky titles that seem to well in that market they might have been able to ask some questions of Sony but they just didn't stick with it long enough and now I doubt many consumers would give them a second chance.

Last gen 360 had one year before the PS3 debut and sales of 360 japanese game were not good in Japan. Before the beginning of this gen the Tales of creator told this time the series will continue on Playstation because it is where the fan are.

 

[temesgen]

Last gen 360 had one year before the PS3 debut and sales of 360 japanese game were not good in Japan. Before the beginning of this gen the Tales of creator told this time the series will continue on Playstation because it is where the fan are.

There is no question in my mind that from an strictly economic stand point MS was justified in not doubling down with another round of JRPGs but I'm not convinced that value such investment brings to the platform is easily measured.

 

[chris1515]

The Xbox has a brand problem in Japan and at a lesser extent in Continental Europe.

The 360 one year headstart give them a boost in Europe but the PS3 win the battle because of the brand and it is the proof of the brand power because PS3 launch was such a mess...

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Regarding a price drop, it is important to keep the momentum of your platform. The 300 -> 200 USD price drop on the PS2 was not needed but really gave the platform a boost.

I don't think anybody disagrees but the PS4 isn't losing momentum and still people are saying they think Sony will lower the price.

 

[Xbat]

I think there's a bigger play here though because of ps+ the more people you can get using plus the better especially now that the next consoles should have backwards compatibillity. Why not sell 2 million consoles a month and make billions out of subscriptions Get some massive mind share going