How to sell next-gen consoles, Marketing, Positioning, and Pricing [2020]

[Shifty Geezer]

I disagree. Console prices aren't clearly defined by their launch libraries. By and large they are priced the same, whether the library is good or not. Can you point to a console with a particularly stellar launch library and relate it to a higher than average launch price?

 

[borntosoul]

I disagree. Console prices aren't clearly defined by their launch libraries. By and large they are priced the same, whether the library is good or not. Can you point to a console with a particularly stellar launch library and relate it to a higher than average launch price?

What Sony and MS will take into account......dont look for just the one thing.

Hardware
Software
Cost
Timing
Hype

*what the competition is*

 

[Shifty Geezer]

You've ignored my question. Can you point to any example of a console launching with better software and selling for more money? Your theory sounds reasonable but I don't see that it works that way at all and I don't think launch software is a factor whatsoever. I think they pick a launch target price design a platform for that, then release, maybe moving their target up a bit if they can. I don't know of any that have downward adjusted at launch and cases where a console hasn't sold well, they've downward adjusted after launch.

 

[borntosoul]

No I don’t have written proof of it sorry, As l said software is just part of the equation that will effect price a little.

ld say another way, any company will look at the worth (from top to bottom) of any product they sell and then work out how much they can charge for it.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

We'll agree to disagree. I don't think launch software has ever had an impact on that. Companies have charged top dollar for consoles with crap launch games!

 

[borntosoul]

We'll agree to disagree. I don't think launch software has ever had an impact on that. Companies have charged top dollar for consoles with crap launch games!

Yes, this has been true, l believe the market place has changed.
Sony have been quiet about the price of the ps5, there must be a reason.

 

[milk]

I feel like the first half a dozen or so months of sales within a console launch have invariavly been dominated by technology/gaming enthusisasts and people to whom cost and value proposition is not the most pressing of issues.
I don't see why that would be different this time.

 

[BRiT]

They still have cost and value propositions, they just value the better gaming experience and their experiencing it earlier more than the average consumers.

 

[disco_]

I feel like the first half a dozen or so months of sales within a console launch have invariavly been dominated by technology/gaming enthusisasts and people to whom cost and value proposition is not the most pressing of issues.
I don't see why that would be different this time.

Yeah. Both xbone and ps4 were pretty much sold out for the 1st several months despite everything that was going on before launch and the months following. The 1st 5-10 million will likely sell quick no matter what.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I feel like the first half a dozen or so months of sales within a console launch have invariavly been dominated by technology/gaming enthusisasts and people to whom cost and value proposition is not the most pressing of issues.

Ansbolutely. This is why consoles almost never repeat the launch window sales-wise over the course of their lifetimes, despite the prices dropping and the game libraries only getting better.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Ansbolutely. This is why consoles almost never repeat the launch window sales-wise over the course of their lifetimes, despite the prices dropping and the game libraries only getting better.

I remember being heavily downvoted in Eurogamer comment threads when I kept pointing that out for WiiU...

 

[chris1515]

Ansbolutely. This is why consoles almost never repeat the launch window sales-wise over the course of their lifetimes, despite the prices dropping and the game libraries only getting better.

Yes and Sony told on average from 2013 to 2018 day one gamer spend 1800 dollars between games and services excluding hardware sales. Some gamers probably bought PS4, PS4 Pro, PSVR and another controller maybe move reaching 3500 dollars spend on PS ecosystem.

 

[BRiT]

Wow, that seems crazy numbers, but then it's not crazy numbers at all if you look at them. If you figure maybe $50 per software title and 5 years ps+ for $175 ($35 deal) that's roughly 33 games, or a little over 6 titles per year. Naturally the breakdown shifts a tiny bit depending on sale prices, but not by much.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Ansbolutely. This is why consoles almost never repeat the launch window sales-wise over the course of their lifetimes, despite the prices dropping and the game libraries only getting better.

I don't think that is true. Most generations launches were supply constrained. PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and the Wii most definitely had way bigger holiday sales after their launch years. PS4 and Xbox One had the best supply at launch, but still "only" did around 1.8-2M each in November+December 2013 NPD, without doing too much research on those, I know they are not the best years for the current platforms and I'm guessing average at best.

 

[Jay]

Sony have been quiet about the price of the ps5, there must be a reason.

Reason being they want to say it at end of their planned PR strategy.
Same for MS.

I think both sony and ms would like to reveal price last to allow small tweaks. But it's obviously only possible for one to go last.
Who will blink first.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I don't think that is true. Most generations launches were supply constrained.

Yeah, fair enough - older gen launches were amateur hour in term hardware manufacturing though. With a professional chip partner (AMD) and mass manufacturing base this is no longer the case. Sony had sold 4.2m PS4's within the six week launch window. I doubt that was ever surpassed. Modern launches involve stockpiling for a few months.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Sony had sold 4.2m PS4's within the six week launch window. I doubt that was ever surpassed. Modern launches involve stockpiling for a few months.

https://www.polygon.com/2016/1/5/10717142/ps4-lifetime-sales-35-9-million-holiday-2015

The 2015 holiday sales figure of 5.7 million units is up more than 39 percent year over year — in January 2015, Sony reported sales of 4.1 million units during the 2014 holiday season. Sony defines the most recent holiday period as running from Nov. 22, 2015, through Jan. 2, 2016, in North America, Europe and Latin America, and from Nov. 23, 2015, through Jan. 3, 2016, in Japan and Asia.

Playstation 4 had NPD sales of more than 1.5M per month of November and December that year, with bulk of the November sales coming in the last half of the month with Black Friday and Christmas gearing up and yeah PS4 brought big numbers from all over the world. 2014 was very close to the launch year as well.

And then 2016:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ollieb...on-sales-over-the-2016-holidays/#3b73a4e47b41

According to a recent announcement from Sony Interactive Entertainment, the PS4 managed to sell through 6.2 million units during the 2016 holiday season.

one more

https://www.polygon.com/2018/1/8/16866554/playstation-4-sales-figures-holiday-2017

Sony today announced that it sold 5.9 million PlayStation 4 units around the world during the holiday season.

 

[BRiT]

So initial launch period of 700K a week, then 950K a week during Holiday 2015 and then 1033K a week during Holiday 2016 assuming all are a 6 week range.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Playstation 4 had NPD sales of more than 1.5M per month of November and December that year, with bulk of the November sales coming in the last half of the month with Black Friday and Christmas gearing up and yeah PS4 brought big numbers from all over the world. 2014 was very close to the launch year as well.

Very close but no cigar?

one more

And again, I'm looking worldwide vs a single region (NPD).

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Very close but no cigar?


And again, I'm looking worldwide vs a single region (NPD).

Excuse me?

You provided 4.2M worldwide sales figure on the launch year and stated that you doubt it has ever been matched by PS4 later on and I linked you the worldwide figures for the next four year of the same 6 week holiday period (well one week difference, but same duration and no meaningful difference) and only 2014 was just below the 4.2M of the launch year at 4.1M. 2015 was 5.7M, 2016 was 6.2M and 2017 was 5.9M units as in much higher sales than the launch year.