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

We have info that:

2013 PS4 price was $399 and BOM $381. The difference between retail price and BOM is $18.

We also heard PS5 BOM is $450 from Bloomberg. Let assume PS5 standard edition accounts for 60% of PS5 series.

Assume PS5 digital BOM is $425, and accounts for 40% of total sales.

The difference between retail price and BOM is:

(499-450) x 0.6 + (399-425) x 0.4 = 19.

(The difference of PS4 is 18)


PS5 $499 and PS5 digital $399 will have similar financial effect of PS4.
 
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Thanks to @Lalaland for pointing out Microsoft has confirmed the Xbox Series X release date November 10 2020, the estimated price of $499, and specified preorder date of September 22, 2020.

So that is officially Microsoft's approach, go for affordability and go for performance.

It is now open for Sony to let us know what their approach will be.

The approach is very apparent: advertising spider man as the main system seller.
Especially when Halo is delayed to next year.

PS5 starting at $399 with big exclusive games is probably the approach .
 
I am going to feel so guilty. Hard to boycott EA when they are on GamePass for no extra cost. (And yes, I have purchased exactly 1 EA published title in the past 15+ years. I have boycotted them.)

I've only bought 1 EA title this gen: Unravel. Wasn't boycotting them. Just don't have games that I like. At least now I can take Unravel 2 off my wishlist.

Tommy McClain
 
I don't think Sony can sell the DE PS5 at 400 without taking a massive loss on each system. Removing the disc drive doesn't save that much money. I will be very surprised if the DE is more than 50 less than the full model and if the full model comes it in at less than 500.

A loss on the PS5DE is less of a gamble than a loss on the base PS5 because PS5DE owners can only buy games digitally and Sony will be the largest seller of digital games on PS5 and take the retailer cut. While console game codes adhering to conventional retail models do exist, it seems to be a very small market. E.g. looking at CDKeys, most of what they're selling is PSN credit or but there are a few odd games here and there.
 
Thanks to @Lalaland for pointing out Microsoft has confirmed the Xbox Series X release date November 10 2020, the estimated price of $499, and specified preorder date of September 22, 2020.

So that is officially Microsoft's approach, go for affordability and go for performance.

It is now open for Sony to let us know what their approach will be.
Whenever they decide, or how they decide to reveal it, I'm pretty sure they're sticking to $399 and $499. If they want to be very aggressive, They may want to do $349 and $449 but I doubt it.
 
Whenever they decide, or how they decide to reveal it, I'm pretty sure they're sticking to $399 and $499. If they want to be very aggressive, They may want to do $349 and $449 but I doubt it.
I think they will. The biggest issue with trying to flog PS5 at the price of Xbox Series X is it's simply not as powerful. They can push 3D sound, nextgen triggers and other stuff all like like, but PS5 has a smaller SSD, slower CPU and less powerful GPU.

And 299, 349-379, 449 and 499 will be an interring spread. Indeed I can see Sony's bean counters pushing the viability of 329/429 pricing. If they want to transition PS4 owners to PS5 quicker than ever, which is what they said, they need to eat some of that cost. A lot of that cost.
 
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I've only bought 1 EA title this gen: Unravel. Wasn't boycotting them. Just don't have games that I like. At least now I can take Unravel 2 off my wishlist.

Tommy McClain

Now that they're included in Game Pass, you may want to check out the Plants vs Zombies titles. I dont know if they were ever Gold titles, but they're not bad despite being Shooters style. They also have the Sims 4 which I could see the kids might enjoy, as my niece and nephew liked it enough to buy last year.
 
I can't see anyone ever wanting to go with Layaway since you're paying for an item you won't get until you're finished paying for it in it's entirety.

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Full Article @ https://venturebeat.com/2020/09/09/...nt-plans-for-playstation-5-and-xbox-series-x/

GameStop considers installment plans for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X

GameStop wants to make it easier for you to buy a new console this holiday, even if you don’t have the cash in your pocket. The company is considering a plan to launch multiple alternative payment models this month, according to internal documents provided to GamesBeat. These payment options include layaway, installment plans, and rent-to-own. GameStop confirmed the plans during its quarterly earnings report today.

GameStop layaway
Layaway enables customers to keep a product on reserve at a store until they complete the full payment. This enables consumers to commit money toward a purchase in smaller chunks.

Once you pay the full price, you can take home your PS5 or Xbox Series X.

Installment plans with third-party processors
GameStop is also adding support for third-party payment services like Quadpay and Klarna. These companies enable you to split up a purchase into 4 payments over a 6-week period.

These payments are interest-free. Instead, Quadpay or Klarna takes a commission from the retailers.

Rent-to-own
The retailer is also planning to work with a separate company to offer a rent-to-own option. Here is how GameStop describes it in its memo to managers:

The merchandising team is working with a reputable third-party partner that offers rent-to-own options for most items in your stores. This plan allows the customer to walk out the door with minimal up-front money and to pay their purchase off between 30 days and 12 months.

GameStop says that customers can use this to pay as they play. And it also gives the option to return the product at any point during the 12-month pay-off period.
 
Whenever they decide, or how they decide to reveal it, I'm pretty sure they're sticking to $399 and $499. If they want to be very aggressive, They may want to do $349 and $449 but I doubt it.

Xsx and xss would sell most in US, therefore Sony only needs to have more discount in US.

For example: PS5 digital $349 in US, 399 euro in Europe, and similar price in other areas.


I think they will. The biggest issue with trying to flog PS5 at the price of Xbox Series X is it's simply not as powerful. They can push 3D sound, nextgen triggers and other stuff all like like, but PS5 has a smaller SSD, slower CPU and less powerful GPU.

It is very interesting to see the two things:

1. What is the actual resolution/frame rate in PS5 and Xsx?

PS4 has many 1080p launch games while x1 has 900p or even 720p COD. What about PS5 vs. xsx?

2. What is the actual loading time of PS5?

We have't seen any loading demo for real games.



And don't forget PS5 has super famous exclusive Marvel games at launch. Basically it is very easy to sell PS5 with the same price of xsx which doesn't have the Halo game.
 
It’s probably fair to say we should know by 22nd September?

Maybe MS got wind of the PS5 date and tried to get in first so open pre-orders before the PS5 price reveal?

Either way I can’t understand why Sony are holding back unless it really is 600 & 500 - which would be a PS3 scenario :/
 
Yeah, I think it's probably going to be more expensive than XSX. Sony doesn't have the luxury of Microsoft reusing dies for Azure Services, which might explain how Microsoft can achieve these price points. Plus even the DualSense controller might be more expensive to manufacture than the DS4 with all that new tech. Or they are still undecided on price and trying to see where they can cost more to match XSX price.
 
Either way I can’t understand why Sony are holding back unless it really is 600 & 500 - which would be a PS3 scenario :/

The XSX price here in norway is listed as 5499 NOK. That was what I paid for the PS3 when released with a lowered introduction/preorder price. The original list price was 5990 NOK. Not to far off here anyway. The XSX is 3299 NOK. Have to add that this can change when the big stores start to compete for customers.
 
The XSX price here in norway is listed as 5499 NOK. That was what I paid for the PS3 when released with a lowered introduction/preorder price. The original list price was 5990 NOK. Not to far off here anyway. The XSX is 3299 NOK. Have to add that this can change when the big stores start to compete for customers.

Here in sweden were going to pay 5700kr, probably ends up being close to 6000(599 dollars).
Xss about 3600kr. PS5 most likely will be close to the xsx’s. Peoples reactions here are the new consoles are too expensive.

Its the PS3 again from both ms and sony. I understand the need for two skus now from both ;)
 
Here in sweden were going to pay 5700kr, probably ends up being close to 6000(599 dollars).
Xss about 3600kr. PS5 most likely will be close to the xsx’s. Peoples reactions here are the new consoles are too expensive.

Its the PS3 again from both ms and sony. I understand the need for two skus now from both ;)

And here at Finland xsex is 590-599€ or more on pre-order stores, some tech sites talk about 509€ but that makes no sense as price, so it is probably 599€ which is over 700 $

Even 509€ / 602$ makes it DOA, as xbox is almost non excistent here. I know over 40 people with ps4 and only one with ps4+xbox one, and he bought it for 99€ and said that it just collects dust.

Xsex should be 250-300€ to have any kind of chance vs PS5 here

Meanwhile many friends have said that they get PS5 day one if it is under 599-649€, if they can find one.

Sony consoles are only ones I have seen to be sold out here, not even switch did that on launch on most citys
 
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Same here its basically PS and pc. Even then, ps5 will be too expensive i think for the console market. Like ps3 it will sell but not as many/fast as ps4.
 
I think they will. The biggest issue with trying to flog PS5 at the price of Xbox Series X is it's simply not as powerful. They can push 3D sound, nextgen triggers and other stuff all like like, but PS5 has a smaller SSD, slower CPU and less powerful GPU.

And 299, 349-379, 449 and 499 will be an interring spread. Indeed I can see Sony's bean counters pushing the viability of 329/429 pricing. If they want to transition PS4 owners to PS5 quicker than ever, which is what they said, they need to eat some of that cost. A lot of that cost.
I really don't know whether that is a fair assessment. The power difference between S and DE PS5 is huge, yet you are pricing them with a delta of $50, which is the same as the one between X and Disc PS5, even though the difference between those two is minimal by comparison?

That would only feed into the narrative that PS5 is halfway between the S and the X in terms of power, which is most definitely not the case, and even more importantly it's a narrative that I'm sure Sony would not want to support.

EDIT: And by 'power' I mean the PS5 has the same amount of rather expensive RAM as the X, an expensive albeit slightly smaller SSD, and of course the much bigger APU than the S. And let's not forget this unknown cooling solution! It just doesn't add up how all of that is $50 away from the S and the X at the same time, considering the only difference in the PS5 is the disc drive?

Unless they don't care and I'm wrong, in which case I'll humbly eat my hat.
 
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