Sony: PlayStation 3 price drop

[SugarCoat]

The previous $499 PS3 had pretty much the same as the Elite, aside BluRay and a WiFi chip. As HDD prices deteriorate I am not surprised at this, just a shame it is not more HDD space (surely a 60Gb HDD is 'expensive' as an OEM now).

The elite does come with a decent HDMI cable though which is the only real advantage i can think of as far as whats included in the box. Still i think the Elite isnt as appealing that close to the PS3 and hope it gets its price drop which forces the other models to drop as well. The flip side is microsoft can continue to be cocky about their superior game lineup and hold the price firm until January 08 relying on titles like Halo 3 and GTA to continue selling systems at their current prices through the holiday season. I sincerely hope they dont do that though, but i do wonder why they've been so stubborn about reducing costs especially after reading that they've been so picky about the cost of their components. I think we're past the point where even a quick glance of what makes up the Xbox360 makes anyone think "wow they must be taking a real loss on the production of this thing!"

 

[Arwin]

no MCE functionality although media playback

The 20Gb also comes sans Flash memory card interfaces for SD, MS, etc.

Overall though, it is generally assumed that the $100 difference between the 60gb and 20gb versions of the PS3 do not make up for $100 and therefore in terms of hardware for money the 20gb version was probably better value anyway.

What do you mean with the above though? The DNLA features not good enough for you? Maybe not wholly equivalent but certainly close enough?

Anyway, let's not get into the software bits too much or you'll have to discuss how much the free dedicated online in Resistance is worth versus Achievement points and stuff in Gears, etc.

We'll see with the price cut. I think it would be good to do the 100$ during E3 as an atonement for the $600 announcement (which just hurt gamers, no matter whether or not it was justified in terms of value - I obviously think it is), as that would leave room to take off some more before Christmas without looking too desperate or making people who bought it before a pricecut too bitter.

I reckon Sony would really want to sell their consoles, and their first party and other exclusive publishers as well as multi-platform people will want the console to sell quickly also so they can make some more money off their games. In this respect you have to take into account that the PS3 was delayed, and though I suspect a fair few developers delayed their titles accordingly (I'm 100% sure that's what EA and Ubisoft did), I think in terms of price development the PS3 needs to be closer to the original schedule.

 

[Ben-Nice]

Not sure how legit this is.

http://www.kotv.com/news/national/story/?id=131051

Sony Corp. announced a revised PlayStation 3 console Monday with a bigger hard drive for storing downloaded content such as video games and high-definition movies.

The new $599 PS3 increases the system's storage capacity from 60 to 80 gigabytes and also includes a retail copy of the online racing title ``MotorStorm,'' a company spokesman said.

Starting Monday, the current 60 gigabyte model will cost $499 _ a $100 price drop.

The larger capacity machine won't be available in the United States and Canada until August.

 

[morlock]

So 80GB will be the new "60GB" and the 60GB will discontinue so they just lower the price on the 60GB to get it out of the retail channels.

I'm sure the "80GB" will be a 120GB in 6 months, since the small HDDs costs more than the larger ones at some point.

Come august if they are out of 60GB, they will probably drop the 80GB to $499. (Maybe at TGS in sept...)

 

[SugarCoat]

motorstorm and 20gb increase isnt worth an extra $100+tax. Infact i dont understand why they insist on keeping a sku at $600 at all.

 

[Carl B]

The drop in the 60Gb to $499 is definitely a positive, and although I understand where margin preservation is the primary mission of the new 80GB unit, I honestly would have thought they would have gone to 120GB for a few dollars more in cost just to ensure that the Elite would never have that spec advantage in the general space. Not to mention, to the consumer it helps in justifying an extra $100 - where I don't feel 20GB and Motorstorm alone necessarily do the job.

 

[ninzel]

Not sure how legit this is.

http://www.kotv.com/news/national/story/?id=131051

WTF?

 

[PARANOiA]

This can't be true. This would make the 60gb sell like hotcakes, since it's like a "sale item"... surely they will make a permanent $500sku. The have to.

 

[betan]

The drop in the 60Gb to $499 is definitely a positive, and although I understand where margin preservation is the primary mission of the new 80GB unit, I honestly would have thought they would have gone to 120GB for a few dollars more in cost just to ensure that the Elite would never have that spec advantage in the general space. Not to mention, to the consumer it helps in justifying an extra $100 - where I don't feel 20GB and Motorstorm alone necessarily do the job.

I think the points is fading out 60 gb and introducing EEless SKU.

Of course, details may be missing, bundle may include another controller, headset or something.

 

[thatdude90210]

This can't be true. This would make the 60gb sell like hotcakes, since it's like a "sale item"... surely they will make a permanent $500sku. The have to.

Maybe... it'll also be a bit tarnished by being a "clearance" item, a discontinued product. But the important part is that Sony isn't ready to give up on the $599 price point yet.

 

[iceberg187]

Maybe... it'll also be a bit tarnished by being a "clearance" item, a discontinued product. But the important part is that Sony isn't ready to give up on the $599 price point yet.

Yeah, this strikes me as clearing out the channel.

 

[thatdude90210]

Yeah, this strikes me as clearing out the channel.

Thinking about it further, it might not be a bad idea. It is a price cut they badly needed, and it'll take a long while to clear the channels. Some of the estimates out there (seemed to be educated estimates at gaf) have Sony selling about 3.7 mil currently, plus the announced shipped number of 5.5 mil at end of March. That could mean they have more than 3 mil 60 gigs to clear out. This could take them to next year. By then, maybe the new 80 gig will be ready for a price cut.

 

[SugarCoat]

Thinking about it further, it might not be a bad idea. It is a price cut they badly needed, and it'll take a long while to clear the channels. Some of the estimates out there (seemed to be educated estimates at gaf) have Sony selling about 3.7 mil currently, plus the announced shipped number of 5.5 mil at end of March. That could mean they have more than 3 mil 60 gigs to clear out. This could take them to next year. By then, maybe the new 80 gig will be ready for a price cut.

but whats the point? Surely they'd take just as much of a nasty loss by cutting $100 off the 60 as they would the 80gb as im sure the cost difference to them is a matter of a few dollars at best. Theres no point to your logic if you're trying to say that Sony is going to save money by doing this. Purchasers arent going to be fooled by a replacement 80gb sku @ $600 either to offset the losses in my opinion.

I guess what im trying to say is that they should simply price the 80gb sku, if they did indeed stop buying 60gb HDDs, closer. Say $525-550. It is only 20gb, and in a system that can also take an addon HDD supplied by the owner at any time, its really quite trivial. I dont even see any reason why people would feel pressured to need as much HDD space as possible with what they currently offer for downloadable content/games/media.

 

[Todd33]

motorstorm and 20gb increase isnt worth an extra $100+tax. Infact i dont understand why they insist on keeping a sku at $600 at all.

Agreed, they needed a new low end SKU, not a replacement $600 one that isn't worth $100 more. If it is EE-less, then it is a downgrade in some respects. Hopefully there is more to it than 20GB and Motorstorm.

 

[thatdude90210]

but whats the point? Surely they'd take just as much of a nasty loss by cutting $100 off the 60 as they would the 80gb as im sure the cost difference to them is a matter of a few dollars at best. Theres no point to your logic if you're trying to say that Sony is going to save money by doing this. Purchasers arent going to be fooled by a replacement 80gb sku @ $600 either to offset the losses in my opinion.

I'm not saying it's ideal... more like making the best of the situation. The 80GB harddrive supposedly don't cost more, some say it's actually less. Plus it's a chance to go to purely software PS2 emulation. And maybe even introduce the Shockaxis with the 80GB. If that was to happen, all the leftover 60GB can't be sold at full price anyway. Basically Sony can clear the channels of the 60GB and give a pricecut that their software partners are demanding, all in a single move.

 

[Ben-Nice]

I've seen many websites claim the Motorstorm bundle is Limited Edition whatever that means. Doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[rounin]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/07/08/new-ps3-new-price-drop-more-news-coming/

As you may have seen tonight here, here and here, we’re kicking off this year’s E3 with some big news (and the show hasn’t even started yet).

In short, we’re introducing a new PS3 model with a 80GB hard drive which will include a free copy of MotorStorm, all for the retail price of $599. This 80GB package will be available starting in August, just a few short weeks from today. The larger hard drive will give players more of an opportunity to take advantage of all the downloadable games and trailers on the PLAYSTATION Network, including the content from our forthcoming download service which will include videos, movies and other entertainment content.

In addition, as some of you speculated last week, we confirmed today that we are lowering the price of our current 60GB PS3 by $100, to $499, effective immediately in North America. I know many of you were eager to hear this and we’re thrilled to share this with you now as we head into E3.

 

[Carl B]

I've seen many websites claim the Motorstorm bundle is Limited Edition whatever that means. Doesn't make any sense to me.

It's probably along the lines of what's being theorized - the 60GB will likley be sold at $500 until the inventory is cleared, after which the 80GB unit will probably be dropped to that price point (sans Motorstorm). Honestly it will be interesting to see how many SKU variations of the PS3 we run through this gen - with several potential variables at play, driven primarily by the nature of the HDD market, we may see these cascading price drop effects at several points this gen simply to shift what the 'norm' PS3 hardware and 'norm' PS3 pricing is in a long-tail fashion.

For the short-term though, the 80GB PS3 will capture new PS3 owners that have to have "the best." I imagine this group will be a minority of upcoming PS3 owners, but these types are certainly out there, and Sony may as well take advantage of that while the 60GBs are cleared.

 

[patsu]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2007/07/08/new-ps3-new-price-drop-more-news-coming/

EXCELLENT ! Sony has finally communicated quickly and directly with its userbase. There are still room for improvement but the Playstation Blog is really delivering. The Playstation Home effort is still their best yet (includes informative FAQs and interviews to rationalize their moves with fanbase).

Sony is essentially borrowing PC economics and parts here (Basically mark down old models and introduce new models at the same price). The actual price reduction, a la Slim PS2, will probably come at a later time.

Not sure what else they have in mind. Hopefully it's as exciting as PS Home and LBP.

 

[one]

but whats the point? Surely they'd take just as much of a nasty loss by cutting $100 off the 60 as they would the 80gb as im sure the cost difference to them is a matter of a few dollars at best. Theres no point to your logic if you're trying to say that Sony is going to save money by doing this. Purchasers arent going to be fooled by a replacement 80gb sku @ $600 either to offset the losses in my opinion.

I guess what im trying to say is that they should simply price the 80gb sku, if they did indeed stop buying 60gb HDDs, closer. Say $525-550. It is only 20gb, and in a system that can also take an addon HDD supplied by the owner at any time, its really quite trivial. I dont even see any reason why people would feel pressured to need as much HDD space as possible with what they currently offer for downloadable content/games/media.

So what do you want exactly? 60GB for $399? That's ridiculous unless Xbox 360 Premium gets a price drop to $299 as PS3 has Blu-ray (+ 5 discs bundles) after all that can differentiate itself from Xbox. Pricing 80GB closer to 60GB is equally stupid in this context, they want to clear 60GB in the inventory. If the price difference was minimal it would deter people from buying the 60GB model. They don't have to abandon their premium image of the brand because it will work positive when the price is not too high.

SCE can just wait and see what happens after the 60GB price cut, it's not like many important softwares arrive in summer. Later they can make Heavenly Sword Pack with 80GB PS3 for $600. The $100 difference from the 60GB version is just fair at that point.

The press release

http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/release/pdf/070709e.pdf