NPD April 2007
- Thread starter thatdude90210
- Start date
inefficient
Veteran
My guess that this months PS3 numbers were impacted by the drop of the $499 20GB model.
Nah, the $499 20GB model barely sold anything when it was available. My guess is that the already thin market for those who desire a $599 console is drying up.
Perhaps you missed Sony Gamer's Day and the trick up their sleeves. Games! It's as simple as that, plus a price drop (which I feel has happened in the UK...also PS2 dropped price twice in the UK in its first year).
GAMES GAMES GAMES. (and price
MS isn't competing against Nintendo, because Nintendo isn't trying to do the whole convergence thing, at least that's what they say publically. MS sees Sony as a threat to their entire business, while Nintendo is a threat only to the XBox. I expect it will drop price come Halo 3 launch day, which also just happens to be just around GTA4 time too. They will wait as long as possible to drop the price so they can clear inventory of the current 'expensive' Xbox 360 and replace it with a cost reduced version. To me it really just looks like they are going to just be sticking to the plans they laid out for the system. They could do with a price drop now, but would the extra sales make up for the extra losses.
Demographic information about who is bying Wii vs 360 is something to be considered. Lots of reports that non traditional gamers are buying Wii's which may not be considered targets for the 360. In addition also need to consider the whole Wii60 idea where Xbos 360 owners might also be buying Wiis too. Basing a big decision of when to price drop based purely on numbers is not a good idea. MS are in this to make money this time, as much as they want to win.
Demographic information about who is bying Wii vs 360 is something to be considered. Lots of reports that non traditional gamers are buying Wii's which may not be considered targets for the 360. In addition also need to consider the whole Wii60 idea where Xbos 360 owners might also be buying Wiis too. Basing a big decision of when to price drop based purely on numbers is not a good idea. MS are in this to make money this time, as much as they want to win.
I made this post a while ago about price and it's relation to the market pool you can cater towards. While my numbers aren't spot on, the principal seems to be valid. For the PS3 to have sold in great amounts at such a high price range, it would have to be an anomaly. It isn't/wasn't.
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=905741&postcount=81
they still have brand power, it doesn't guarantee success of ps3 system (because that would have meant nintendo would have won last gen), but its some sort of safety net i guess. also know that current gen games are more expensive to make, multiplatform ftw
Holy jeebus. It just dawned on me that Pokemon Diamond sold 1 million copies in April, and 1.7 million copies of Pokemon overall between Diamond and Pearl.
Perhaps you missed Sony Gamer's Day and the trick up their sleeves. Games! It's as simple as that, plus a price drop (which I feel has happened in the UK...also PS2 dropped price twice in the UK in its first year).
GAMES GAMES GAMES. (and price
Wow, my prediction came true. (yay me) (see post #29)
Um, there hasn't been an official price drop in the Uk. Retailers are cutting the price, because its not selling.
Any price-cuts we talk about here must be official cuts by SCE.
they still have brand power, it doesn't guarantee success of ps3 system (because that would have meant nintendo would have won last gen), but its some sort of safety net i guess. also know that current gen games are more expensive to make, multiplatform ftw
Nintendo had brand power last generation? Last I heard N64 was out sold by Playstation and the cartridges did more than enough to hurt that image. Going into last generation Sony was far and away the brand power leader. Heading into this generation Sony was still number one, but a little game called Halo put a small trinket in the back of everyones mind... and none of that matters!
Seriously, if anything this early new generation is teaching us that product image is far more important than brand power. Just because you have a Playstation does not mean its going to be a success. Just because you released something called a Gamecube does not mean you're next product is going to fail also. Well, there is an exception, because your name is Microsoft you're always given a different outlook.
I seriously doubt for the future of the PS3. It started off far to expensive with no buy me titles. It lost a number of its big third party exclusives, etc. Its really hard to sell something when its expensive and there is no draw. Hell, the Xbox 360 is showing its hard to sell something when its not the most expensive and has better draw. But when you're cheap, new, and not like everyone else you're rewarded.
Oh how I'd love to sit in on the meetings for the next Xbox and Playstation.
quest55720
Regular
Perhaps you missed Sony Gamer's Day and the trick up their sleeves. Games! It's as simple as that, plus a price drop (which I feel has happened in the UK...also PS2 dropped price twice in the UK in its first year).
GAMES GAMES GAMES. (and price
Until those games come out and the price is 399 or less it won't mater in america. Sony had a great GDC but it did not help 1 bit in the sales. Most of the people who saw the whole gamers days are hardcore gamers who already know what is coming.
MS and Sony really need price cuts in the worst way. While the HD consoles are tanking the good news is consumers have spoken and have said no to the pricing of MS and sony.
As for the price drop talk, it's pretty much a done deal that Sony and MS will drop $100 this fall. Sony absolutely has to, and MS has 65nm chips coming along then plus they will react to Sony.
My only possible question now would be if Sony gets desperate enough to do it early, say anytime now, and if MS follows suit.
It's pretty clear to me MS is content to ride out lackluster 200k a month 360 sales until fall. Most likely because they dont see Wii as direct competition, and therefore have no real sense of urgency, and also because they are focusing on profit.
I still think the Elite was just a bad move. After that fall price drop, if it's $100 across the board, MS will have 199/299/379 sku's. Sony will have one 499. I can see people getting muddled and making a choice between 379 and 499 and deciding to just go with the Sony.
Oh, also a $120 drop from Sony is possible I think. It's weird but I noticed with the Elite MS pulled something off, which is that it's referred to as a $480 system rather than $500 as the 20GB PS3 got tagged. When Elite is essentially a >$500 system after tax.
In other words it's a mind trick, the Elite price starts with a 4 not a 5. Something like how retailers use 99c instead of rounding up the dollar. So I think a $480 PS3 might be a great strategic move without costing Sony much more. Also, an analyst recently predicted a 20% price cut on PS3 this year, maybe he just meant $100, or he took into account various international currencies, or whatever, but 20% is $120 not $100.
My only possible question now would be if Sony gets desperate enough to do it early, say anytime now, and if MS follows suit.
It's pretty clear to me MS is content to ride out lackluster 200k a month 360 sales until fall. Most likely because they dont see Wii as direct competition, and therefore have no real sense of urgency, and also because they are focusing on profit.
I still think the Elite was just a bad move. After that fall price drop, if it's $100 across the board, MS will have 199/299/379 sku's. Sony will have one 499. I can see people getting muddled and making a choice between 379 and 499 and deciding to just go with the Sony.
Oh, also a $120 drop from Sony is possible I think. It's weird but I noticed with the Elite MS pulled something off, which is that it's referred to as a $480 system rather than $500 as the 20GB PS3 got tagged. When Elite is essentially a >$500 system after tax.
In other words it's a mind trick, the Elite price starts with a 4 not a 5. Something like how retailers use 99c instead of rounding up the dollar. So I think a $480 PS3 might be a great strategic move without costing Sony much more. Also, an analyst recently predicted a 20% price cut on PS3 this year, maybe he just meant $100, or he took into account various international currencies, or whatever, but 20% is $120 not $100.
quest55720
Regular
I don't 499 is still way to high of a price point. Sony needs to get to 399 ASAP to really get moving. The problem is trying to rebuild momentum I could be wrong but I don't think it has ever been done before. I am not sure any console that lost its launch momentum like the PS3 has ever come back. I think the premium at 299 would fly off the shelves this fall with halo 3 and GTA 4.
scooby_dooby
Legend
Probably because it was hardly available.
scooby_dooby
Legend
They're already down 20% for the last 2 months in a row. MS has consistently sold 50k/week in nearly every month since launch (and holidays of course). The pool is clearly drying up.
Of course, they can both go into a stalemate and watch eachothers sales dwindle, and watch Wii dance off into the sunset, which might just happen.
MS does have a fairly good 'supposed' summer lineup to maybe pull it through, but virtually nothing is confirmed other than BD and Bioshock. PS3 has lair and that's about all, so it's summer #'s are gonna be pretty horrendous without a pricedrop as the pool of $600 console owners dries up even more.
That and Sony lost more money on the $499 model than they did on the $599 model. Either way, point is that it just wasn't available, so the sales drop can't be pinned on the lack of that sku.
scooby_dooby
Legend
I guess, though you could argue that the initial buyers where the ones more prepared to buy at $600, and going into a slow summer, a $500 unit might be better recieved by the remaining fanbase.
Actually scooby, every console in history (disregarding price-cuts and supply constrained launch periods) drops about 20% in terms of sales from February to April, this is because the weather is getting better, and people go out more.
Take a look here