Ars Technica rumor claims 399 40GB PS3 this year

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The concern IMO is not pissing off current customers with multiple price cuts in a short period of time. The concern for me would be people waiting for yet another price drop. If I see something drop in price a couple of times in a few months it would make me think twice about buying because the next price cut could be right around the corner. Also there is the danger if MS holds firm on price and outsells the PS3 dispite yet another price cut might be the dagger in the heart. If the PS3 with more features at a cheaper price elite vs 40gig unit could not outsell the 360 it would be a signal it is over for sony. I could see 3rd partys start to pull support left and right. Price is the last excuse sony has right now if it is not price then it is people just don't want a PS3.
 
Technically, that would only be the first real CUT... (Just they'd also be upgrading the console technically as well.)

After all, it launched with a $500 SKU, and that's the cheapest one we're at now, since the 20GB got surreptitiously dumped. (At least in some markets.) Granted you can still find a couple, but...

$400 is the only place they'd have to go to and stay for a while; it's just more important for them to get there BEFORE the holiday season than it would be to wait until later, I think. They need to lower the barrier of entry while people are in a purchasing mood, rather than wait for another dry spell like in May (when lots of summer price drops occur).
 
mrcorbo said:
I understand the logic of this and I would have to agree, but this is unlikely to be how this would be perceived by the buying public. This is why Apple had to make some effort to try to smooth things over ($100 in store credit). A 33% drop in price on a product that's this expensive just a couple of months after its introduction is a bit too extreme IMO.

Not to mention the other perception that could come out of a move like that, which is that Sony is desperate.

I think they would need a new SKU to get to $399.
Click to expand...

Again, who cares, the gaming media, people in fora? I have a sneaking suspicion that this holiday season when parents walk into stores, that Sonys supposed desperation is irrelevant.
 
cthellis42 said:
I do see them rather wanting to get a $400 SKU out there, but I share earlier comments that ran along the lines of "40 fewer gigs, and that's IT for a $100 difference?" It doesn't make much sense to start splitting production again (though I guess they are still producing the 20GB in some markets, right?) and remove the wireless device or the memory card slots, etc. And if they don't do that, just what would really be the differentiation?

I guess the 80GB could remain still bundled with Motorstorm through the holidays and have, say, some extra perks (like credit that could go to your online account when you sign up for it, so you could pick up, say, $20 worth of games and somesuch. Good idea, that, as it's extra value AND gets more people signing up right away and seeing what's on PSN.) But without the hardware differences...

The difference between a 40GB and 80GB laptop drive in large bulk couldn't be THAT huge, so frankly I share the stance that they should just use the 80GB as the baseline and drop that, and retain a more expensive SKU with a stupid-huge drive (you can get 160's in a frickin' iPod, after all) and some cool bundling at the high end. In fact, I'd almost rather still see them at the $600 level with a ridiculously cool bundle rather than feeling they have to stepping-stone about. Toss a few of the sought-after holiday titles in, a good online game (Warhawk, say, which could be pre-installed, and would also get people used to using the SIXAXIS), and whatever other bling seems nice. ;) They can drop that one to $500 easily enough later on just by pulling out some of the bundle. While some hardware extras on the machine might be NICE, I think it makes more sense to keep the basic design the same for manufacturing simplicity and cost reduction, and make it up with ephemeral extras.

Also, throw a frickin' HDMI cable or something in there, 'kay? Sheesh...
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Don't they still offer the 20Gb sku in japan. Maybe they simply upgrading the 20Gb to 40Gb like they upgraded the 60 Gb to 80 Gb and are re-releasing in the states for $399.00. This would make more sense then just releasing a PS3 with just 40 less Gbs.
 
dobwal said:
Don't they still offer the 20Gb sku in japan. Maybe they simply upgrading the 20Gb to 40Gb like they upgraded the 60 Gb to 80 Gb and are re-releasing in the states for $399.00. This would make more sense then just releasing a PS3 with just 40 less Gbs.
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Like I said, I think they do. Of course it's based on the old design which has the EE+GS, and since they're trying to phase that out to save costs...

Of course at that point what do they do? Is it better to keep that old design otherwise and just swap the motherboard and kick up the HD, or would it be better to unify the case production and all the chips and ports to just have it done the one way on ALL the SKU's? Personally, I think it's best to unify the hardware that takes specific production, as it makes everything easier to produce and support. There's not a lot more that I can see them wanting to mix in, so they could mainly take advantage of significant hard drive advancements in a premium model (they could even possibly shoot for a large capacity 7200, eh?) and other pack-in bonuses (extra controller, cords, games, promotions, etc.) to sell a higher-priced, more-profit SKU.

It would just seem odd to go from 20/60 to 40/80 at this point. Heck, even the cheapest-of-the-cheap laptops pretty much come with 60's as a bare minimum at this point.
 
Question is, will a $400 ps3 be enough in this market?

Many many months ago, I think it would have been huge. This holiday though, it will be facing a Wii which is selling all it can make, and an xb360 which has a stellar lineup.

Not to mention the potential reaction of MS and N (well, maybe not N) to drop their price as well.

As I've said many times, a $200 xb core + this holiday lineup would be killer for MS. IMO, MS should have done this without being provoked by such a drastic move by Sony.

Whatever it takes to get these guys bringing their prices into the mainstream though. It's been well above accepted price points for way too long and I'll be glad to see Sony and MS get their act together this year.

I think a $400 ps3 will sell a heck of a lot better than a $500 one would, but, it still won't be enough IMO. Should be enough to secure 3rd party support, but not enough to overtake MS or N.
 
I want to back up TheChefO 's opinion.

If sony has a system @399$ with a 40GB HDD and who actually is able to act as the best BD player of the market, M$ can't sell the 360 @349$

Shortly, if this rumour is true, the pro pack will be 299$ and the arcade pack 229$ this christmass.
And sadly for Sony this place M$ dangerously in the "mainstream" market price wise while 399$ is still quiet a lot.

In fact I almost think Sony should better shaved only 50$ so M$ can chose to not react/follow.
 
Yeah, thats the thing, but thing is that PS3 will lose its crown for "cheapest BD player in the market" soon. BD players can be add as low as the price of a PS3 right now. However, I don't know about the quality.
 
Why would someone say M$ when talking about multiple sclerosis? Are some of those "not for profit" foundations really raking it in? :p
 
liolio said:
I want to back up TheChefO 's opinion.

If sony has a system @399$ with a 40GB HDD and who actually is able to act as the best BD player of the market, M$ can't sell the 360 @349$

Shortly, if this rumour is true, the pro pack will be 299$ and the arcade pack 229$ this christmass.
And sadly for Sony this place M$ dangerously in the "mainstream" market price wise while 399$ is still quiet a lot.

In fact I almost think Sony should better shaved only 50$ so M$ can chose to not react/follow.
Click to expand...

I wonder though if MS would go for one more price drop before christmas. I think they will sell quite a lot as it is and might keep the price cut for a bit later when the slow selling part of the year starts. On the other hand I am of the opinion that MS should have aready been at the $199/299 price point by now...
 
liolio said:
I want to back up TheChefO 's opinion.

If sony has a system @399$ with a 40GB HDD and who actually is able to act as the best BD player of the market, M$ can't sell the 360 @349$

Shortly, if this rumour is true, the pro pack will be 299$ and the arcade pack 229$ this christmass.
And sadly for Sony this place M$ dangerously in the "mainstream" market price wise while 399$ is still quiet a lot.

In fact I almost think Sony should better shaved only 50$ so M$ can chose to not react/follow.
Click to expand...

Does the 360 really have to be cheaper than the PS3?

Where does it say, if they were priced the same, 360 wouldn't continue to sell more in America? We are seeing some of this already with the Elite sku, which probes PS3-like price heights. Someone who buys an Elite could have just as easily chosen a PS3. But maybe they wanted a 360 instead?

If gaming is about games, 360 could outsell PS3 at the same price or even higher. PS3's main value add is the Blu ray movies capability imo. Heck, that's the main reason I want a PS3, morseo than the games right now..

Now, of course it's much BETTER for MS if 360 is cheaper..this is only a theoretical thought experiment.
 
Ranger I agree with you, and anyway Sony has to make the first move.
MS can to react or not depending on market reaction.

And M$ I don't see what's wrong as I'm not bashing the company at all.
It's just a habit, maybe a bad habit, but I will use MS to make everybody happy.
 
It will be interesting to see if the US market develops to become a market like Japan, where U.S. products are preferred no matter what. The original Xbox was already much stronger in the U.S. than anywhere else. And if publishers (including foreign ones like the Castlevania guy) start treating that market more and more as such, that would just strengthen the effect.

A bit like how over 50% of Swedish cars are in fact Swedish (Volvo and Saab), France is full of Citroens, Renaults, and Peugeots, etc.

It just makes the European market all the more important, I guess.
 
Arwin said:
It will be interesting to see if the US market develops to become a market like Japan, where U.S. products are preferred no matter what. The original Xbox was already much stronger in the U.S. than anywhere else. And if publishers (including foreign ones like the Castlevania guy) start treating that market more and more as such, that would just strengthen the effect.

A bit like how over 50% of Swedish cars are in fact Swedish (Volvo and Saab), France is full of Citroens, Renaults, and Peugeots, etc.

It just makes the European market all the more important, I guess.
Click to expand...

I guesss it's the same in every country, national company benefit from some kind of prestige, and people tendd to think if I can have the overall same experience why not go with a product made in my country ;)

And there's market where the situation is worse, for guitar especially everything that come from US is highly praised while cheap but good production from korea lag to gain recognision, Japan is in a slightly better situation.
Not that high end US made are bad (far from it actually) but people favor a low end US made to a high end korean guitar witch can be discussed for years... :LOL:
Read comment on harmony-central made by american about american (you often know quickly) and it will be clear that console market is no exception.

These feeling may help MS in US and nintendo & Sony in Japan.
 
IIRC the CFO of Sony Corp said it'd be profitable in this fiscal year, it's enough to convince me that they won't drop the price for a while in the US after they did for the 60GB model in July. Anyway if they sell 80GB for $499 it's already a price cut of a sort. Retailers may sell the remainder of the 60GB version for $450.

Rather the price cut for PS2 is more imminent IMO, at least in the US market. In other words, a significant PS3 price cut will occur in the next fiscal year (Apr 2008 ~) when the PS2 sales show a clearer decline. EU and Japan will see PS3 price cut this year, though. 80GB PS3 for 499 Euro - 499 USD - 49800 yen, hopefully at Hirai's keynote for TGS.
 
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