Sony: PlayStation 3 price drop

[Mintmaster]

The only thing more stupid recently was MS and thier 479 dollar SKU.

MS sold them very quickly, didn't they?

If anything, it makes the PS3 look more overpriced. MS is giving you 100GB for $80. Sony is giving you 20GB for $100. Even if a buyer places a $50+ value on Motorstorm (which I doubt for the majority), it still looks like a ripoff.

MS will follow Sony for pricing, making sure the Premium costs much less than the PS3. The Wii is such a big phenomenon that lower price from MS won't be as beneficial as people think it will be. The Wii is targeting an audience that MS has little hope of attracting. Heck, if MS came out with a Wii-esque console instead of Nintendo, it wouldn't have sold half as many units. There's nothing MS can do but ride out the storm. MS can't worry about it, and just has to focus on staying ahead of Sony.

We might see a price cut for the holiday season, but there's no urgency to do it now.

 

[Arwin]

I agree completely with Carl B's analysis. All this discussion about two SKUs is assuming that you will see the 80GB SKU in stores alongside of the 60GB SKU. But the reality is that the 60GB SKU you see everywhere will drop in price, and that the 80GB SKU will barely make it into any other store before the 60GB models have been cleared.

We already speculated earlier when the first rumors about the Korean 80GB model came about that the 80GB HDD would soon cost the same as a 60GB and then continue to become the cheaper alternative, as it will be the capacity produced most for a while (until that moves on to being the 120Gb, no doubt).

The 2 SKU solution is probably the best way to deal with the transition phase. Eventually we may even see options for customisation in this area (order your PS3 online with the HDD capacity of your choice, for instance). But right now, this is not a bad way to do it, and it is not as complex a situation as Microsoft has now with the three SKUs. What you will see there is probably that the Premium will eventually be completely replaced by the Elite, and the Core will probably drop eventually. We'll see.

But in very real terms, the current 60GB model that everybody has been seeing in the stores has gone down $100 and that will be reflected in stores and will be what consumers see.

 

[quest55720]

I agree completely with Carl B's analysis. All this discussion about two SKUs is assuming that you will see the 80GB SKU in stores alongside of the 60GB SKU. But the reality is that the 60GB SKU you see everywhere will drop in price, and that the 80GB SKU will barely make it into any other store before the 60GB models have been cleared.

We already speculated earlier when the first rumors about the Korean 80GB model came about that the 80GB HDD would soon cost the same as a 60GB and then continue to become the cheaper alternative, as it will be the capacity produced most for a while (until that moves on to being the 120Gb, no doubt).

The 2 SKU solution is probably the best way to deal with the transition phase. Eventually we may even see options for customisation in this area (order your PS3 online with the HDD capacity of your choice, for instance). But right now, this is not a bad way to do it, and it is not as complex a situation as Microsoft has now with the three SKUs. What you will see there is probably that the Premium will eventually be completely replaced by the Elite, and the Core will probably drop eventually. We'll see.

But in very real terms, the current 60GB model that everybody has been seeing in the stores has gone down $100 and that will be reflected in stores and will be what consumers see.

It is going to be a long time before all the 60gig models are cleared. There what atleast to 1.5 million of them unsold? It would of been much better to just announce a price cut then when the stock of the 60gig is low you introduce the 80 gig sku. To help clear the last few hundred 100k 60 gig you offer 2 older games for free.

I don't think MS will ever drop the core they want to get to that magical 199 dollar price point soon as possible.


Looking at monthy sales numbers I would say a price cut is needed urgently MS has tapped out the 399+ dollar market. Getting the core to 199 just before madden/halo/GTA would help them steal those casual gamers sony has had for the last decade.

Lets not forget MS matched pretty much ever price drop sony threw at them last generation.

 

[one]

If anything, it makes the PS3 look more overpriced. MS is giving you 100GB for $80. Sony is giving you 20GB for $100. Even if a buyer places a $50+ value on Motorstorm (which I doubt for the majority), it still looks like a ripoff.

Those who are savvy enough to think the 80GB Motorstorm pack as a ripoff will buy 60GB instead, and slap a 160GB HDD into it. What's the problem with it?

 

[SugarCoat]

So what do you want exactly?

Im sorry, was there something i said that was confusing to you?

In order to improve the overall image of the PS3 they need to continue to drop the price as fast possible, not discontinue a sku, or continue upgrading their current model all while maintaining the exact same price barrier that has not been recieved well. This does nothing but spells ignorance to me.

This is hardly the same as the Elite, bringing that up was just stupid. Microsoft has always offered the Core at 299 and premium at 399, and did so for over a year before the Elite showed up. Those are acceptable prices apparently. Sony on the other hand either failed to launch or discontinued their previous 499 model leaving them with just the one at 599 and now apparently is going back to a 499/599 models yet again. What part of this stupid plan just flew over your head blinding you into thinking its good? Yes the price drop is great, the image of the Sony PS3, especially from the point of view of the average consumer, however, is the exact same.

Another negative is Microsoft might not view this as much of a threat (rightfully so) and, as i previously said, continue to be cocky and try to ride out another holiday's system sales on prime titles like GTA/Halo. In the end the only region that i see as actually getting a win out of this is Europe since they never had a shot at a cheaper sku to begin with.

 

[archangelmorph]

It is going to be a long time before all the 60gig models are cleared. There what atleast to 1.5 million of them unsold? It would of been much better to just announce a price cut then when the stock of the 60gig is low you introduce the 80 gig sku. To help clear the last few hundred 100k 60 gig you offer 2 older games for free.

Firstly when and where WAS it confirmed that the 60GB would be discontinued?

I'm at a loss to find any information regarding this other than B3D user inference..

Sure that might be the case but until that's been confirmed i'd say take it with a grain of salt..

As for your statement quest.. What's the difference?

The fact remains that the 60GB model has had $100 knocked off the price.. No other changes to the SKU have been made and therefor this is a price drop (in as much of the same way retailers are going to market it.. Especially since it's in their own interests to do so in order to help PS3 sales pick up and improve their overall bottom line..)

I think the ONLY negative issue regarding this announcement is that there are currently no plans to introduce this reduction in the UK (as far as i'm aware)..
Sure the PS3 has only been here for a few months but hey! Is that our fault Sony? There the ones who chose to continue to shaft us every year with late product launches, higher retail prices and minimal/late price cuts..

Shame on you Sony for continuing to screw over the one single territory that has served you so well..

 

[Crossbar]

I think it´s a good move by Sony to start lowering the price.

I also believe that once the 60 GB units start to disappear from the stocks then the 80 GB unit (unbundled) will start to appear at the $500 price point. I think it´s just common sense.

Closer to the holiday season we may see another move to offer more value for the money, there are many different ways to do that through different kinds of bundles beside a plain price drop.

 

[Crossbar]

I think the ONLY negative issue regarding this announcement is that there are currently no plans to introduce this reduction in the UK (as far as i'm aware)..
Sure the PS3 has only been here for a few months but hey! Is that our fault Sony? There the ones who chose to continue to shaft us every year with late product launches, higher retail prices and minimal/late price cuts..

Shame on you Sony for continuing to screw over the one single territory that has served you so well..

I think you will be pleasently surprised very soon.

 

[Arwin]

It is going to be a long time before all the 60gig models are cleared. There what atleast to 1.5 million of them unsold? It would of been much better to just announce a price cut then when the stock of the 60gig is low you introduce the 80 gig sku. To help clear the last few hundred 100k 60 gig you offer 2 older games for free.

That's the traditional way to do it, but why are you so certain it is the better way to do it?

I don't think MS will ever drop the core they want to get to that magical 199 dollar price point soon as possible.

If you are certain that they do really want to keep the core. There has been a lot of pressure by developers to have some form of HDD standard in the console.

Looking at monthy sales numbers I would say a price cut is needed urgently MS has tapped out the 399+ dollar market. Getting the core to 199 just before madden/halo/GTA would help them steal those casual gamers sony has had for the last decade.

I think people are sometimes overestimating the whole price-thing. 299 for a 360 or 249 for a Wii, that's not the difference that matters here. If the Core had a wiimote and Nintendo wrote software for it, then that would have been completely sold out all the time.

Lets not forget MS matched pretty much ever price drop sony threw at them last generation.

I'm sure they would, but I'm sure that if they think they can get away with not doing so for a while, they will - remember they have had to reserve 1.15 billion just recently for 360 repairs.

Also, remember that in terms of price, the PS3 is in the position that the Xbox was in last generation.

 

[quest55720]

Firstly when and where WAS it confirmed that the 60GB would be discontinued?

I'm at a loss to find any information regarding this other than B3D user inference..

Sure that might be the case but until that's been confirmed i'd say take it with a grain of salt..

As for your statement quest.. What's the difference?

The fact remains that the 60GB model has had $100 knocked off the price.. No other changes to the SKU have been made and therefor this is a price drop (in as much of the same way retailers are going to market it.. Especially since it's in their own interests to do so in order to help PS3 sales pick up and improve their overall bottom line..)

I think the ONLY negative issue regarding this announcement is that there are currently no plans to introduce this reduction in the UK (as far as i'm aware)..
Sure the PS3 has only been here for a few months but hey! Is that our fault Sony? There the ones who chose to continue to shaft us every year with late product launches, higher retail prices and minimal/late price cuts..

Shame on you Sony for continuing to screw over the one single territory that has served you so well..

The difference is that the 599 dollar price point would be dead forever. Sony can not get away from 599 fast enough in north america. Instead of keeping it alive and dragging the PS3 down.

The 80 gig has the improved blue tooth and no EE/GS it is the future SKU. The 60 gig model is done once it is sold out.

 

[archangelmorph]

The difference is that the 599 dollar price point would be dead forever. Sony can not get away from 599 fast enough in north america. Instead of keeping it alive and dragging the PS3 down.

The 80 gig has the improved blue tooth and no EE/GS it is the future SKU. The 60 gig model is done once it is sold out.

Pls provide a link of Sony's confirmation of discontinuing the 60GB model?

No EE/GS is irrelevant.. Sony's s/w emulation has been in place for a while now and already support thousands of titles (and with big PS3 releases just around the corner.. Who SERIOUSLY cares that much about BC this far in?)

The bluetooth of the 60GB model is works fine as far as I can see..

I still don't see why you fail to see this price drop for what it is..

Anyway it doesn't matter what you think to be honest.. July and Augusts sales figures should tell us all we need to know about how the aggregate gamer sees Sony's latest move..

 

[Silent]

Is it a coincidence that they annouce the price drop in the same week that there is so much bad press (even in the mainstream news - joe public) about the xbox 360 ?

 

[quest55720]

I think people are sometimes overestimating the whole price-thing. 299 for a 360 or 249 for a Wii, that's not the difference that matters here. If the Core had a wiimote and Nintendo wrote software for it, then that would have been completely sold out all the time.



I'm sure they would, but I'm sure that if they think they can get away with not doing so for a while, they will - remember they have had to reserve 1.15 billion just recently for 360 repairs.

Also, remember that in terms of price, the PS3 is in the position that the Xbox was in last generation.

The Wii also comes with one of the hottest games of the year and built in storage for game saves. You are looking at 400 dollars to match that with the 360 core+ memory card + 60 dollar game.

Apple had to dish out millions for bad batteries in IPODs and logic boards in ibooks but that did not stop the pricing from going down. The charge off is done and won't affect the numbers next financial year 08 so they can afford a price cut and still show a profit 08.

If developers could change their mind about the core it would of been before the launch. It is to late now with core units out in the field you can't screw those people over. MS has a plan for the core unit once they can get the costs down. We shall see if it pays off or not but I think it can if they cut the price before madden/halo/gta come out stealing casuals from sony.

 

[quest55720]

Is it a coincidence that they annouce the price drop in the same week that there is so much bad press (even in the mainstream news - joe public) about the xbox 360 ?

It has been planned for a while it leaked from a circuit city ad. From what I have read you need to give 2-3 weeks notice to get a price drop into an ad. It just happened to come during a bad week for MS.

 

[Evildeus]

Why back to 599$?? Isn't there 2 SKU one @499 and 1 @599?

 

[Titanio]

The 80GB looks little more than a sony-sanctioned game bundle. The 60GB will be the majority choice as long as it's around, IMO. If and when they do discontinue it, I'm reasonably sure they'll price drop the 80GB, possibly without a game.

Anyway, it's nice to have confirmation. I'd say Sony was initially planning to announce this on Wednesday, though.

 

[Brad Grenz]

It has been planned for a while it leaked from a circuit city ad. From what I have read you need to give 2-3 weeks notice to get a price drop into an ad. It just happened to come during a bad week for MS.

Yeah. They only made the announcement when they did because of the leak. Otherwise we wouldn't have heard until E3.

 

[Archgamer]

When is Sony going to learn that a 599 dollar system won't sell? It doesn't matter how much more gimmicks you put into the value of a 599 machine, it won't sell because 599 is A LOT to burn. The 499 PS3 is good news but this 80 gig sku will not sell and become overstock. When developers, retailers and consumers are asking for a price drop I'm pretty sure that this is not what they had in mind.

I know people would buy a PS3 base on faith alone because it's Playstation. The games aren't the problem. The expense is.

 

[Titanio]

When is Sony going to learn that a 599 dollar system won't sell? It doesn't matter how much more gimmicks you put into the value of a 599 machine, it won't sell because 599 is A LOT to burn. The 499 PS3 is good news but this 80 gig sku will not sell and become overstock. When developers, retailers and consumers are asking for a price drop I'm pretty sure that this is not what they had in mind.

I know people would buy a PS3 base on faith alone because it's Playstation. The games aren't the problem. The expense is.

And you can get a PS3 today for $100 less than you could last week.

As long as there is a credible $499 option around, it is an effective price drop. The fact that I can walk into any retailer and see $1000 'value-add' retailer bundles for game consoles doesn't take away from the fact that I can also pick up a regular, non-bundled system for less, and that's the case with PS3 at the moment.

One reassuring thing about the 80GB model is Sony's signal that those media download services are on the cards soon.

 

[quest55720]

Pls provide a link of Sony's confirmation of discontinuing the 60GB model?

No EE/GS is irrelevant.. Sony's s/w emulation has been in place for a while now and already support thousands of titles (and with big PS3 releases just around the corner.. Who SERIOUSLY cares that much about BC this far in?)

The bluetooth of the 60GB model is works fine as far as I can see..

I still don't see why you fail to see this price drop for what it is..

Anyway it doesn't matter what you think to be honest.. July and Augusts sales figures should tell us all we need to know about how the aggregate gamer sees Sony's latest move..

I would say september will be the test since that is when the 80 gig sku will be fully stocked. I expect a nice bump in july since it will be just the 499 PS3.

The blue tooth did need a fix for some who got random drop outs. The writing is on the wall the 80 gig is the future and the 60 gig is the past. With out the EE/GS and I am sure a better deal on the 80 gig drives they will cost less to produce.