No More 60GB PS3 in the US after July?

[TheChefO]

Chef I just honestly cannot fathom that you would believe this. Show me a quote from anyone on the Internet having a reaction to this news that reflects this thinking. People "that don't know better" are completely unaware of David Reeve's statements to begin with; even then, he was speaking to a European publication - Europeans can't run out and buy it, because it's not happening there. Which was the point of the question he was being asked... basically "why aren't we getting it?"

Word spreads.

I've seen the damage their PR has caused to other system's, and recently, I've seen the damage it's caused their own.

I'm sure you've seen how people going into a gameshop get their info from the sales clerk. Often times, their decision is swayed depending on what is said.


To think there is no meaning or aim in such statements by their PR is a bit naive IMO.

Let me ask you this, would Sony benefit from people thinking they would no longer be able to get a PS3 for $500 if they waited too long?

 

[<nu>faust]

<nu>fast do you honestly think an 80GB PS3 will be sold in the US at $599 without the bundle?
They will be back up to $599 with the limited edition. Once the bundle expires, the price will drop.

i would say no way untill i heard kaz's coments today, maybe sony finally managed to break even with their 80gb sku and they want to take slow but financially secure route with the platform?

 

[Carl B]

To think there is no meaning or aim in such statements by their PR is a bit naive IMO.

And I think in a world where you see a scramble by SCEA to refute what was said by David Reeves - because of the *obvious* damage to the announcement of just a couple of days ago - for you to think that it might have been purposeful makes me think that you indulge perhaps a little too much in conspiracy theories.

Let me ask you this, would Sony benefit from people thinking they would no longer be able to get a PS3 for $500 if they waited too long?

If the 60GB PS3 is limited in supply at this point, which it is, frankly I don't think it matters much at all. The damage to Sony from the feeling among the Internet populace that soon $600 will be the norm again does them far more damage.

 

[Carl B]

i would say no way untill i heard kaz's coments today, maybe sony finally managed to break even with their 80gb sku and they want to take slow but financially secure route with the platform?

Well, I think they definitely want to milk the bundle for all they can, exactly because its margins must be much improved. Whether they would be ballsy enough to let it be the only SKU available for the holiday period though, I just can't see it happening...

But of course as with all things, it nevertheless might.

 

[TheChefO]

frankly I don't think it matters much at all.

You don't think it might accelerate their sales a bit?


Regardless, I'd like to see them stop putting their foot deep in their mouth and let their games do the talking. They just finished e3 as arguably, the strongest player going forward, only to do/say something stupid, again.

 

[Deleted member 7537]

My theory:

-60GB 499
-80GB + Motorstorm 599
-60GB solds out
-80GB 499


This should be the logic process.

 

[Carl B]

Regardless, I'd like to see them stop putting their foot deep in their mouth and let their games do the talking. They just finished e3 as arguably, the strongest player going forward, only to do/say something stupid, again.

Stupid? Wait a minute, I thought you were just accusing them of being some sort of evil geniuses with this!

Exactly though - it's just simply stupid.

 

[TheChefO]

Stupid? Wait a minute, I thought you were just accusing them of being some sort of eveil geniuses with this?

...depending on perspective ...

To those that know better, it's quite stupid.

Any news on last months npd nums yet?

 

[dobwal]

I'm not sure how I'm not making sense, but I won't belabor the issue. If you are asking for hard evidence that what Kaz said was incorrect, then there is none. But the lack of such 'evidence' doesn't mean many people here believe him, because the logical steps lie elsewhere - just as no one with any sense here believed Chubachi when he 'refuted' the price drop rumors.

Believe what you like. And the way you phrase the second part of your sentence makes it seem as if I was telling you to take Kaz at face value - I said don't.

I wrote this.

Come on, I have got to have this wrong. Please correct me if I do.

Sony cuts the 60Gb PS3 price by $100.00 dollars just to clear channels and will replace them with $599.00 80Gb PS3s?

If true, thats gots to be one the dumbest move of all console time.

How much more attractive does your 600.00 console become with the addition of 33% more storage space?

I ask for correction if I had inferred Kaz's statement incorrectly.

You posted that I had.

I wasn't debating about the truthfulness of the statement but whether I had correctly comprehended his statement or if the post itself was refutable.

I take no one's statement at face value when it comes to console's executives, but I also don't naturally conclude truth or falsehood for those statements based on my own or the collective logic of this board.

 

[Carl B]

I ask for correction if I had inferred Kaz's statement incorrectly.

You posted that I had.

I posted that you were wrong - not in terms of the price drop being a channel-clearing tactic... which has been discussed for days now and you likely should have realized... but in terms of your conclusion that the move was 'dumb,' or that ultimately the final result would be a $600 console again.

 

[NERO]

Sony cuts the 60Gb PS3 price by $100.00 dollars just to clear channels and will replace them with $599.00 80Gb PS3s?

In theory it will clear channels for them to replace it with the 80gb 600usd, which in the holidays will be cut down to 500usd. They have to give the perception of value without telling people they will cut down the road. If they show their card now, people will just wait instead of mopping up the clunky EE-in 60gb models.

I take no one's statement at face value when it comes to console's executives, but I also don't naturally conclude truth or falsehood for those statements based on my own or the collective logic of this board.

And you shouldn't take what they say at face value because sometimes you have to lie to make money/cut losses. Trenton's comments will probably be shown to be agitprop for buyers.

 

[dobwal]

I posted that you were wrong - not in terms of the price drop being a channel-clearing tactic... which has been discussed for days now and you likely should have realized... but in terms of your conclusion that the move was 'dumb,' or that ultimately the final result would be a $600 console again.

Kaz states this " then we're back to the $599 SKU only."

Regardless of what you or anyone believes will happen is irrevelant.

I was debating on how "dumb" it would be for Sony to have only a $599.00 80Gb sku after clearing the channel with a $100.00 price drop and not what might ultimately happen.

If you got opinions on why clearing the channel with a $100.00 price but returning to the original price point with the new sku then I would love to here them.

 

[Carl B]

Dobwal, we're going in circles. My opinion on the matter is clear. My deferment to Kaz's, or any other Sony execs statements, completely non-existent. Why you would want to frame things in an absolute fashion based on this man's statements is beyond me. Under the assumption that somehow we're misunderstanding each other though, I'm happy to drop it.

BUT, even if Kaz's scenario were to come to pass word for word, it still would have resulted in a better situation than if we simply never saw a price-cut at all. And in the world where Kaz's quote is fixed and valid, that would have been the only alternative.

Whatever happens, its better for the potential PS3 purchaser than what things were looking like just two weeks ago.

 

[dobwal]

In theory it will clear channels for them to replace it with the 80gb 600usd, which in the holidays will be cut down to 500usd. They have to give the perception of value without telling people they will cut down the road. If they show their card now, people will just wait instead of mopping up the clunky EE-in 60gb models.

Problem with that how do you clear 1.23 million PS3 before Christmas holidays with only a $100.00 price drop. The PS3 would have to maintain a 300K rate for the next 4 months to clear shelves of the 499.00 sku.

And you shouldn't take what they say at face value because sometimes you have to lie to make money/cut losses. Trenton's comments will probably be shown to be agitprop for buyers.

and the fact that no matter how illogical a decision sound of us, console makers still make those decisions even though they seem to defy common sense.

 

[Carl B]

Problem with that how do you clear 1.23 million PS3 before Christmas holidays with only a $100.00 price drop.

For the record, the 1.23 million figure is at the end of March 31st... so we're already 3 1/2 months into that inventory. And hell, maybe Sony hopes it'll take them all the way to Christmas, hype for the console will build up again, and PS3-seeking moms and dads will be there starring down the barrel of the bundle. These are decisions that likely can't be made yet until they/we see how demand changes in the coming months.

 

[Todd33]

Even if they have 60GB models in the channel when they drop the 80GB to $499, they can always drop the 60GB to $449.

I'm sure Sony has some smart people looking at past PS1, PS2, PSP sales models.

 

[NERO]

For the record, the 1.23 million figure is at the end of March 31st... so we're already 3 1/2 months into that inventory

Very important mention. With the system selling 80-100k per month since April, I guess it's safe to guess that the remaining EE 60gb inventory is roughly 800k. It will be fun to see how elastic the Playstation brand is after this strategy. I know cutting 100usd from 600usd doesn't seem like much but surely it will affect sales numbers even slightly, especially as the 1st party killer apps come out.

And dobwal,
It's not that I believe that these firms are or aren't rational. I'm just saying that apparently Sony believes this will work in some way.

 

[Cryect]

For the record, the 1.23 million figure is at the end of March 31st... so we're already 3 1/2 months into that inventory.

Actually no its not. Its based on the amount they had shipped through March 31st but the sales numbers we are using is the number sold through May 2007. So the 1.23 million figure is assuming Sony hasn't shipped any more consoles and the only month they are missing is June and the first month of July.

 

[bkilian]

xbd,
Their current sales rate is roughly 80k/mo so doubling would put their stock at 160k/mo ~ 6mo supply. Factoring Christmas sales being double nov and nov double oct, we have 1.6m of demand from now til the rest of the year if sales double from todays rate for ps3. Existing supply would run out somewhere around the beginning of December if they currently only have 1 million in stock today (Personally I think their stock is larger than this).

However, you're not counting the fact that they will be continuing to release product all that time. Depends on how many buy the 60 over the 80, but you can probably double the length of time they'll have stock.

 

[Carl B]

Actually no its not. Its based on the amount they had shipped through March 31st but the sales numbers we are using is the number sold through May 2007. So the 1.23 million figure is assuming Sony hasn't shipped any more consoles and the only month they are missing is June and the first month of July.

Very true - my bad. I looked again at the chart and see how they originated the total in the original sales figure. And absolutely, it assumes no additional units have been shipped; they may have.

So it just looks all the more likely then that the 60Gb unit will be here through Christmas, and that the crossover will happen next year. Either way, it'll probably take some time for us to get a sense of how it's going to play out.