140°

Is the PS4 due for a price drop in the West? Maybe not

Worldwide, the PlayStation 4 has a bare majority of the three-console market—according to Ars' analysis, there are about 10 to 12 million more PS4s than Xbox Ones in gamers' homes. The PS4 also outsold the Xbox One a little faster than normal in the second quarter of this year, suggesting little pressure from Microsoft's lower priced system.

So why the price drop in Japan? It seems a bit odd considering the PS4 is already selling about 16 percent better in Japan this year than it was at the same point last year, according to data from tracking firm Media Create. The Xbox One and Wii U aren't putting up much competition on Sony's home turf, either, lagging well behind the PS4 for months now.

Still, the PlayStation 4 is struggling in Japan with regard to one key comparison: the PlayStation 3.

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arstechnica.com
SourtreeDing3173d ago

Doubt it.. its selling well in the West..

Maybe we are looking at it in the Wrong way...
what if it was a message to Microsoft saying" if you guys drop price on the Xbox 1again we will be right behind you"??

PS4 is selling well if they dropped Price it will be Spring 2016 i feel it

SoapShoes3172d ago

But according to that logic PS2 should never have dropped in price...

NewMonday3172d ago

a price drop is not always about the competition, it is also about increasing volume to rise the rate of adoption.

morganfell3172d ago

I don't doubt it. They can afford to and by dropping the price at the Paris game show, they insure they can increase their own user base and nail down matters for the holiday period. A further increase in the userbase will insure software sales which is where they really make their money.

BitbyDeath3172d ago

The real money is made from software, dropping $50 or even $100 would be made up quickly from those new users buying games for their new systems.

ABizzel13172d ago

The money is made on Software and Services. But in Sony's case why drop price, when you're also making a good amount of money on each console sold as well.

That being said there's a chance we might get a price drop this holiday to combat the XBO in NA. If not, then Spring 2016 is without question the first PS4 price drop for the west, and it'll be $329 - $349, which is perfect for the unrivaled amount of exclusive games they have coming that year.

Thatguy-3103173d ago (Edited 3173d ago )

Doubt it but if it does it will be just 50$ less. They're not that desperate to drop it to 300$. Making it 350$ would make it cheaper before Playstation VR hits the market next yr. They need to have a lot of ps4's out there by then so they can have the best chance of converting people into the VR market.

Eliseo6763172d ago (Edited 3172d ago )

I'm interested on the PS3 gains.

It's surprising it is still so alive in Japan that Sony would cut the PS4 price like this.

Or perhaps there is no reason whatsoever to the price cut other than "Thank you for your support."

freshslicepizza3172d ago

the ps3 is still $250 and it's been out for almost 9 years. doubtful sony wants to take a hit to it's profits when the company as a whole is still trying to recoup itself.

Spotie3172d ago

If that were the case, why would they have just dropped the price in Japan? It's not doing so poorly there that it needs the drop to maintain its pace, so why would they "take the hit" if they were so concerned about the wellbeing of the whole company?

And, given how the console is selling in general, wouldn't they be fine, anyway? Even if they did introduce a price cut, they're selling more than enough software to make up for it. And since software is the big gainer anyway, having more hardware out there to sell more games on wouldn't hurt them in the slightest.

freshslicepizza3172d ago

the ps4 has sold 1.5 million units in 1.5 years, key is to keep momentum going and a price drop will do that. by comparison the wii u has sold 2.5 million in 2.5 years. sales are good but not great for the ps4 in japan but they need a large enough userbase in japan to warrant software support like the ps2 used to get.

japan has simply shifted over to handheld gaming so it is key for sony to try and revitalize that market since it's the only console able to do large enough numbers. which is why a price drop is needed there more.

luckytrouble3172d ago (Edited 3172d ago )

The PS4 is just finally gaining traction in Japan. Price cut or not, the biggest issue since the system launched was the fact that Japanese developers were making every game cross generation that they could because they didn't want to rely on a new system. I guess they didn't trust the PS4 since it didn't absolutely catch fire with no real system seller games for the Japanese audience for awhile. But by doing that, it only ensured that people would continue to buy for the system they already owned. There was very little reason for Japanese people to invest in a PS4, despite the fact that the PS4 was already only around $345 in Japan when the price cut was announced. I won't even touch on the impact of releases that cross the mobile boundary and entice people to look at the Vita version instead due to the mobile nature of many Japanese gamers.

That has started to change though, as more titles are releasing or have been announced that will be PS4 only. That means it's finally time for many Japanese console gamers to make a decision as to whether or not they're going to move on. Sales already have been steadily increasing in Japan, and MGS5 proved that the PS4 still has high potential for the Japanese audience, more than doubling weekly Japanese PS4 sales on launch week.

The price cut will definitely help in a big way, especially since that drop has expanded across all of East Asia, but that's just natural progression when the system has been out for as long as the PS4 has now. Sony already announced a lot of great releases that will be coming next year for the PS4 and not the PS3. Either way gamers would start moving onward and upward.

People need to remember that the holiday matters though, and Sony could win Black Friday and the holiday season in a big way with even a $50 price cut and some good bundles. Let's just wait for Paris Games Week and see what Sony has in mind. I can practically guarantee that we'll be seeing a $50 price drop to $349.99 by November as some megaton announcement that basically seals things.

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