What, release for ~$800 (£425) everywhere else too?
I did some work converting US prices of various CE kit to GBP recently and found that 12-20% was was pretty much the standard increase.
599USD=305GBP
Add 17.5% Sales tax =358GBP
Convert back to dollars and that would be ~ 705 USD - That's the price a PS3 would be in the UK if it was priced by Sony exactly the same as in the US.
Add 20% upper end of standard UK overpricing to 305GBP = 366GBP
Add 17.5% Sales Tax = 430GBP (Announced price of 425GBP just sneaks under that)
Convert that back to dollars and you would get 846USD - ouch!.
Sounds a lot but actually it's not all that bad in our market, a lot of money but so is 599 to you guys.
Having said that given the recent strength of the pound to the dollar I thought Sony could have managed to get the UK retail price down to 399GBP which would have been a bit more marketable.
I believe it's a fair price, given that the rest of the world usually gets shafted in other important details, like 3 or 12 month warranties, while over here the standard 2-year period is mandated by EU law.
The price of the software is another matter, though.
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This one made me chuckle?? The US and Japan launches were only a short time ago. We know how Sony 'reaffirming their commitment' went.
I agree with you, 1 million won't be the final number being launched.
They should have the 20GB out for £350 (even allowing for unfair markups). That'd be a lot more palatable. Quite how Sony are going to decide if there's market demand for the 20GB model, I dunno. Presumably if 60 GB PS3s sit on shelves. If the PS3's sell, they'll excuse themselves from offering the cheaper option. Hooray...
i reckon they did well not to release 20GB PS3.
if PAL ps3 launch had 20GB along with 60GB i personally reckon majority of people gonna talk about 60GB thus ignoring 20GB (this happened with 360 for me when my friends were talking solely about 280 quid 360 and ignoring core)
if they launch ps3 and demands fall they can release 20GB PS3, and people will talk more likely about this and thus sales of ps3 will get boost
obviously there are other factors but i reckon this strategy seems more psychologically tempting consumers if they release 60GB ps3 then releasing 20GB ps3.
