No PS3 Price Cuts for Two Years.

A new Dow Jones story has confirmed that Sony plans to stick to their original plan, including not dropping the price of the PS3 for at least two years

[zonetrooper5]

Well it looks at though i will have to wait 2 years if this is true, maybe if they bundle the PS3 with Killzone 2 and MGS4, then i shall buy it.

[techie]

As I said. Why would Sony say they were going to reduce the price this year? That would mean everybody would hold out and Sony wouldn't get any sales now, which they need. The longer the amount of time they quote before a price-ctu the more people will give in and just buy one now...

[KingJames1906]

Price trumps EVERTHING! And if consumers have a choice, (i.e. Wii, Xbox360, PS2,) Consumers will choose the product that gives them the best quality at their pricing terms. That includes goods and services. I don't have to by their product and in fact if I want it and deem it to expensive I'll wait until depreciation. I did that last year with my auto purchase (2001 Acura MDX Touring.) I really liked the SUV in 2001. It won all kinds of awards that year but with a price of $40,000 dollars tax included, I wasn't willing to take. Enter something called CHOICE and TIME. As I already had a car (like most on this site have gaming consoles or Gaming PC's) I waited until the price suited me. I picked my certified vehicle up for $19,900 tax included with 50K miles. On my terms. I got my eye on the 2007 MDX Tech package $45,000 with tax.) I’ll see it in 2011 @ 50K miles. See I can wait. But, I can't wait to see your reasoning when Sony lowers their price before that 2-year timeframe in the US and PAL regions due to Microsoft lowering their price of the 360 (It’s going to happen before this Christmas season.) I mean if your logic made sense, why did Sony lower the price in Japan 20 percent when it launched there. That wasn’t the original price Mr. Kuturagi quoted at Japan's press event back in 2006. Surly Sony could have just made the Japanese people give in and buy one eventually. And even with the price of the PS3 being 20% lower (than the rest of the world) the Wii is still outselling it 4 to 1 in Japan.

[techie]

Well yes that is what I'm saying. But if everybody did what you said, Sony would be in the sh't. If Sony say there will be no price cut for two years...most people who want a ps3 won't be willing to wait and so will cough up. If they say...oh they'll be a price-cut around christmas, then most people will wait until christmas to get it (if they told that this is the definite case) and then Sony would have low sales. Simply corporate stuff.

[KingJames1906]

No one waits for a company to announce a price drop. You find out that one happened through word of mouth or your local retailer. Also, Sony is in Sh'T at this time due to price. Otherwise no one would keep asking the same question over and over and over again when they get in a room with a Sony executive. "When will there be a price drop?" Sony’s answered this question for the umpteenth time but games and financial analyst still ask that same question. "When will there be a price drop?" "When will there be a price drop?" "When will there be a price drop?" "When will there be a price drop?" "When will there be a price drop?" "When will there be a price drop?" "When will there be a price drop?" "When will there be a price drop?" "When will there be a price drop?" "When will there be a price drop?" "When will there be a price drop?" "When will there be a price drop?" "When will there be a price drop?"

[Captain Tuttle]

They're waiting until the prices of Blu-Ray players come down...then they'll have to lower the price.

[EasilyTheBest]

The PS3 will drop in price significantly by 2008.
If the PS3 sells by the million all through the summer and all the way to christmas with Wii type sales then perhaps they can keep their price, but we all know this isnt going to happen. Microsoft will see to that with big 360 price drops....

[lil bush]

if they would just drop the price $100 dollars or so theu would sell much more consoles and that true when blu-ray does go down sony will drop there price guarenteed

[techie]

I hope they drop the price in the UK first...because they are making a profit on each system sold even without modifications. I expect them to be making about $100 profit on every Uk and european model sold on launch.

[sevenout]

There is no possible way that Sony will make a profit for several years, if ever in the 5 year lifespan of the PS3. They would have to make groundbreaking advancements in the revisions of the components in a very short time. Yes, they are working on 90nm cell chips and cheaper and more available blu-laser diodes are on the way, but these improvements will not drive down the cost of the PS3 significantly enough for Sony to drop the price AND make a profit. The one million PS3's for the European launch obviously were made month(s) ago, not benefiting from even the most casual of improvements to improve loss, with the exception of the removal of the emotion engine.

Also, keep in mind that the higher cost of the PS3 is with the inclusion of the VAT tax. Sony makes no extra profit on tax.

[techie]

Ok ok....maybe you're right. But. Sony are only selling the 60gb version in Europe...they make around $80 more on them than the 20gb model (or shall I say lose $80 less)...tax in the UK is pretty steep, more steep than the rest of the EU. Taking the UK as standard, minus the tax its $680...they've lost the ps2 chip...and I'm sure that means more alterations to the hardware. I'd say they're not far off from making a profit.

sodslawgy - Ah yes I was very wrong wasn't I. And I thought we were having a hard time over here! How uninformed I was. I think it was my subconcious belief that the UK is a rip off. Still not fair! We pay more than the EU and they have higher taxes grrrrrr! lol Damn POUND!

Oh I'm surprised to see Switzerland only has 7.6% GST...I know not a member of the EU but still...how much they getting the ps3 for?

[BrotherSic]

sorry deepbrown but you are wrong about UK tax rates been higher than the rest of the EU:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

For those who cant be bothered to click the link:

UK - 17.5%
Ireland - 21%
France - 19.6%
Germany - 19%
Italy - 20%
Sweden - 25%

In fact only 3 countries have a lower tax rate than the UK

[Chagy]

i dont care about price drop cuz i got my consol at lanch and i dont regreat it. but 2 years seems long, but hey it just must be me

[Torch]

You're not the only one, buddy.

An a PS3 early adopter, I'm happier than a pig in shyte!

What people fail to understand is that it's not a simple matter of lowering the price; Sony's already taking a big hit with their console, and say what you will, but as far as I'm concerned the PS3 is a Hell of a bargain.

Although the X-Box is a fine machine, I just can't understand the argument that the X-box is so much cheaper, when in fact one may ultimately be paying more. It's a simple matter of doing the math, people (bigger hard drive, wi-fi, card readers, hdmi, free network, integrated HD video disc player, etc.) And the kicker is that many X-Box customers DO cough up for many of these extras.
I don't get it. I suppose it just doesn't seem like you're spending more cash when it's in little chuncks at at time???

...and if you DON'T want any of these delicious goodies, then go right ahead and pick up a bare-bones X-Box. That's the beauty of freedom of choice.

Yeah, you wait your two years, people, for Sony to mark down their "outrageously priced" system. Heck if you wait long enough, maybe you'll even get it for free!

Meanwhile, I'll drop in every once in a while to let you in on how much I'm enjoying my much-adored PS3.

[Booneral]

Well it's a matter of choice, I have my laptop connected to another monitor here in my place, so whenever I watch movies, use media applications etc. I use that. So it can do anything besides Blu-ray playback. That makes such goodies non-interesting for me right?

So I care about games, not those and I just need Xbox 360 for now. Till MGS4 is out there, and some other great games like that.

As for the price drop issue, well Sony shouldn't wait long.

[KingJames1906]

If everyone waits two years like you state. I highly doubt you'll be reporting much. There is at best my opinion, 2 - 3 million early adaptors. People like you willing to buy a PS3 at any cost. Not very many software companies would be willing to take that kind of risk with development cost at today’s prices. Hell I doubt Sony’s willing to take that kind of gamble developing software for an install base of 2- 3 million when they are already taking a bath on the hardware cost. That’s not enough of a user base to sustain them for two years. I submit to you if Sony doesn’t have 4-5 million uses by year one, they will have serious issues.

[sak500]

"Meanwhile, I'll drop in every once in a while to let you in on how much I'm enjoying my much-adored PS3. "

May i dare ask doing what?

[Torch]

@ Booneral:
As stated earlier: It's a freedom of choice, and obviously you made it...Congratulations. That isn't to say that everyone else is in agreement. By the way, thank you kindly for the semantics lesson; now that I'm made aware of your sensitivity towards accurate naming conventions, I'll be sure to tread a little more cautiously next time in an effort to not offend you (despite the fact that my aforementioned overall message was obviously clear and remains unchanged.)

@KingJames1906 & Sak500:
Let's be clear: I wasn't suggesting that everyone IS going to wait two years, because they won't. My comments were directed specifically towards those complaining about the price...and again, that's most definitely not everyone. And noooooo, I don't fit the description of someone who's willing to buy a PS3 "at any cost." The reason for my purchase is as a result of my percieved value for what I'm getting. What I DO see, however, are individuals who expect to get the system for next to nothing.

I frankly have an incredibly difficult time understanding how $600 is considered expensive, when masses upon masses of people (which I have no doubt includes many of y'all) don't even give a second thought to plunking down $300, $400, and $500+ for over-hyped, limited-function items such as cell phones, PDA's, or crappy little iPods.

And although some of you may find it hard to believe, I actually have been thoroughly enjoying my system since purchasing it three months ago (Geez, what an outrageous claim that is, isn't it?), with absolutely no regrets whatsoever. I can't fathom how much free time you people have on your hands, but my current collection of fantastic PS3 games have been waaay more than enough to keep me busy and entertained. You guys speak as if developers have straight-out abandoned the PS3. Have we been on the same planet???...the recent week's hype and announcements has been the best YET for the PS3...and only getting better. March has arrived. From here on in, there will be an ever-increasing selection of great games and evolving features.

Finally, although many so-called "hard-core" gamers digress upon even the slightest mentioning of the ever-increasing popularity of Blu-Ray films, there's no denying that the likely adoption of the Blu-Ray format can only help boost PS3 system sales significantly. Why would someone in their right mind buy a stand-alone player (be it Blu-Ray or HD-DVD) when they could have an intricate, multi-function machine (i.e., the PS3) that performs on par - or better - for the same price? Why do dedicated gamers have such a hard time accepting concept? The inclusion of an HD video player was a HUGE factor in determining my purchase decision. So sue me if I enjoy movies just as much as I do games.

I reiterate: If it's not for you, then by all means feel free to choose an X-Box...whoops!...I mean "Microsoft® Xbox 360(TM) Gaming Console"...(don't wanna confuse anyone out there) even though you'll quite likely ultimately be spending the same amount of coin, if not MORE. If that tickles your fancy, then go ahead. Knock yourselves out.

Meanwhile, you can sleep soundly knowing that I sincerely have been, and shall indeed BE enjoying my selected product choice for years to come. And I have the utmost confidence that I'll be in good and abundant company along the way.

[jpod]

didn't the ps2 take almost 2 years before it dropped in price too? either way it doesn't matter to me.

[Chagy]

i dint really matter to me because i always got my consoles at launch or a few days after launch.

[ben hates you]

if microsoft does what they promise and drop the price by christmas this year their sales will probley dang near double

[Covenant]

What if MS drops the 360 in price not once, but twice in that span? (Possible)

What if the Wii continues to sell like hotcakes, and also receives a price drop? (Likely)

At what point does Sony simply give up and cut the price in spite of significant losses? Do they wait too long, until their competitors have almost insurmountable leads in market share (could happen)?

Do they take a wait-and-see attitude, allow for more games to be released, and see how sales go during the holidays? (Likely)

Will consumers wanting a PS3 just go ahead and buy, knowing a price drop is not in the near future? Or do they turn to the competition? (Also possible; our store sold many 360s in the days before Christmas to frustrated PS3 seekers)

My .02 worth.

[techie]

You're right. And it will drop don't you worry. But no company would announce a price drop until it was on their shelves as a price drop.

I will give my lame analogie again.

Imagine a guy goes into a store and sees a $4000 HDTV. He likes it and wants to get it, but doesn't know that in a weeks time it's going to be cut by half in price. Now is the owner going to sell the guy the HDTV now as the guy is willing to, or is he going to tell him "no come back in a weeks time and it'll be half the price!" - of course not.

We won't hear about a price drop until it happens - the more they fool us, the more we believe them.

[KingJames1906]

The 46-inch Sony Bravia TV LCD I bought last year in June for $3200. Can now be had for $2300. Electronics rule of thumb is as time goes so does price and it's more aggressive with TV's with all the competition. So the price of a $4000 TV today will be less $1000 in 3-6 months. Due to new models and features coming to the market. The point is Choice are consumers willing to wait. I gather by the PS3's sales being kid of weak that they are. I'm not saying people do not want the PS3, I'm saying the price is to high. I will probably pick one up when the price hits $200 for me.

[techie]

Grrr! You really are missing the point KingJames1906. My point is. There will be a price drop, Sony will drop the price soon, probably at Chirstmas. Will the announce they will be until Christmas? NO of course they won't. Will they "lie" and say there won't be a price drop so more people will buy it now? Yes of course they will.

And the point YES consumers are willing to wait! They will wait 3months for the price of an HDTV to go down. Will they be willing to wait 2 years to buy a ps3!? No probably not...so the most logical thing for Sony to announce is that there won't be a price drop for two years! Doesn't that make absolute logical sense!?

[blackmagic]

Deepbrown, look at it this way:

You are ready to buy a new tv so you walk into an electronics store and find 2 hdtvs. A $6,000 just-released plasma model(ps3) with new 7.1 audio processing(blu-ray) and a $4,000 LCD model that is just over a year old(360) with the option of a new $2,000 7.1 audio processing board upgrade(hd-dvd).

Comparing the pictures of the two tvs you find it nearly impossible to tell the difference in picture quality. The 7.1 audio in the plasma impresses you but you can upgrade the LCD to do the same thing and to be truthful, you see nothing wrong with your 5.1 setup at home(DVD). You may even prefer a standalone 7.1 solution because it is superior to the built in technologies for many reasons even though it costs more.

Based on past observations of electronics you know that the $4,000 LCD set is likely to drop to around $3,000 soon because it's been on the market for a while. Likewise, since the plasma is new, you know the price isn't likely to change any time soon.

You are that guy. Which decision will you make?

[techie]

Very true my friend. But I know you know that I know that that wasn't my point.

My point was that a price-drop won't be announced until the price is dropping. The same goes for Microsoft and Nintendo.

Nice little analogy mockery laddy. eeee We know they are different machines and will have different games and have different capabilities...it's all down to which one you prefer and whether you view one as a next-gen device or not that is going to offer you the experience you want. You have to save up for both (I do anyway) and if you can choose one, you'll choose the one you want.

I like it that in the UK the ps3 games are £10 cheaper than 360 games when released. That's nice...might make up money after 2 years or so... :{}

[TylerDurden]

Don't get me wrong I own both a PS3 and 360, and both are worth the money I paid for them. However both of these consoles have a high barrier to entry. The type of consumer that will fork over 800 bucks for a console(tax, 1 game, hdmi cable)will also be the type that wants to play these consoles on a hi def TV. A next-gen console with a last gen TV just won't cut it. By comitting your dollars to the console you are basically comititing to other more expensive purchases. Also casual gamers who make up the bulk of the customer base probably don't want to spend more than 200$ on a console. So what are MS and Sony to do? Scale back the hardware and make a more cost effective product, to garner more sales? What if they did do that? Customers like myself who want blu-ray, hd-dvd, who buy 30-35 games a year, who are willing to spend 600$ on a console would get a lesser machine. Both of these companies are in this industry to make money. If Sony drops the price they just bleed more. MS does have a endless supply of cash, and if they wanted to make this a war of attrition than they could definitely do so and would bleed Sony out. They are in more of a position to have a price drop, but they are finally making money on this product after 5+ years of existence. Shareholders faced with the possibility of once again losing money on this division may not be so thrilled as we would be if we see a price cut. Sony and MS can spin the numbers anyway which way, but everyone knows that sales for both consoles have been lower than what was expected. Who would have thought that in Feb 2007 the best selling console would be a PS2 and the next would be the Wii. Seriously if someone would have told you that 6 months ago you would have thought they were smoking crack.

[gogators]

are good deals for what you get, but both are too expensive right now for mass market acceptance. A lot of people just don't have the money for one of these systems. If the Wii start getting good third party support and a number of good games, then Nintendo is going to make this go around more interesting than I want.

[OldSchoolGamer]

Lol, yes listen more to consumers, who are all saying its way too expensive for a video game system. I would get one, but I want games not a !#$_*&# blue ray player! Drop the price, I would love if they just did what everyone wants and go with a fast dvd player. Sony WTF are you doing?

[jpod]

the built in bluray player isn't there jsut for watching bluray movies. it's also there because the games will be going on bluray discs. so it's a win-win situation if you really look at it, unlike the hd-dvd player for the 360 where it just for movies.

[ben hates you]

i disagree bluray was put in the console to win the format war not anything else i mean you look at the games coming out now like gears of war, i've argued this before but people say the game was so short because they couldn't fit more on the disc i say that is bull because the game is on a single layer disc just 5gig they could of made it more by putting it on a dual layer disc 10gig but they just didn't make it super long and it was an average length game 12 hours and bioware laughed at the idea of filling up a dvd

[OutLaw]

Considering that they removed the backwards compatible chips they should give a reduced price for the system. Even if it was only 25 to 50 dollars, it would make people feel more comfortable about the purchase that they made.

[Boink]

If MS drops the price next fall (right around halo3 GTA IV time) and sony does not they could be in BIG trouble.

[Keyser]

Please don't take any offense to this as this is not directed at you Boink but it does not make good business since for MS to drop the price of 360 when they are going to seel more boxes with Halo 3 and GTA's arrival. Those games are designed to sell the boxes at a premium price. They would drop the price maybe when they released Xmen Legends 3 but not their blockbuster, console mover game like Halo 3.

I know people who's only reason to buy the original Xbox was because of Halo. I'm one of them and some of my friends too. I had enough games on my PS2 to satisfy me but after seeing Halo, I needed an Xbox, I held out as long as I could.

I own a 360 and I'm getting a PS3 in two weeks. Like most of you cats I normally get a console when it first comes out but I knew after getting my 360 at launch (and PS2) and waiting around till June for a real fun game other than Oblivion (I own Kameo, Madden, NFSMW, and CD2) to come out that I wasn't going to get bit again by BEING THE FIRST. There just weren't a lot of games that came out for the 360 and it had NO competition! The PS3 looks bad because its shelling out first gens while it's competition is doing 2nd gens. Unfair comparison. C'est la vie. I digress.

Sony is making a huge profit off of PS2's which, as you gentlemen know is still selling like hotcakes, which means they are selling PS2 software so they are not broke or hurting for cash by any means. They're still raking it in unlike MS who's eggs are all in one basket for the 360.

Just doesn't make business since for MS to drop the price and risk losing more hardware money as opposed to keeping the price higher and reaching the poing where they start turning a profit sooner, especially with their flagship game (H3) coming out right before Christmas. It's just business...

[Torch]

Nice rebuttal, as you raised some excellent points.

[Bathyj]

Hmmm, i don't buy it. I think this is just to put an end to those price drop rumours so people aern't waiting 6 months to get a PS3. Think about it, if you want one but no price drop is coming this year, why bother waiting, you might as well get it now. But the price drop could be closer than we think. Just before Christmas would be sweet, but not likely. I'm thinking in about a year to 18 months.

[Marriot VP]

I told you guys there was no way they were going to cut the price for years because of the losses for each console. That's obvious.

The reasoning behind this statement is to get users to buy in now. Which is the same approach MS has taken. However this isn't Sony talking. Which I believe shows that either they don't want to address this issue or they don't know what their going to do as far as price. But anyways they really need to explain to the public that their not going to drop the price if they want to see better sales.

No company in their right mind is going to tell the consumers a price drop will be this christmas or else their sales will plummit to the ground and people will hold off. That's just bad business.

[Keyser]

They should be thanking there pink hearts, purple horseshoes, and red ballons that there was a price cut there. I can't say I remember when a console cut it's price the first year it came out (console historians answer the call!!)! I wouldn't expect Sony to even think about lowering their price till after Christmas 2008 or early 2009.

Like the 360 is pick up speed, the software for the PS3 and their enormous development department will pick up speed as well. 3rd party developers will become more comfortable with the Cell. I'm sure you've all read the article where a seminar was conducted to help developers better understand the basics w/ examples provided to speed up the learning curve.

We see that the Wii uses titles in the Gamecube library to "help" propel its selection. It would be foolish to think many of the games inside the PS2's vast library wouldn't be called onto stage for a graphic enhancement and "do over" on gameplay mechanics to push them to the "worth buying" column of the PS3 library. The PS3 will have tons of games, tons of blu-ray movies and all the extra download ideas that they see MS doing with X-Live.

This is not fanboy-ism but just a business look back at what they've already done and been successful with. Being successful with the PS3 will slow down any future price reductions. It took FOREVER for the PS2 to cut its price and it only had a regular dvd player that the Xbox (with better graphics) also had because of the PS2's success.

$599.99 is hear to stay for some time. Don't worry though, minimum wage is going up and we will all be able to afford one. :)

[jpod]

not only did they get a price cut within the first year, they got one before the release of the console too.

[ElementX]

Well, I can wait a couple years for a PS3, no problems there. I'd rather save money and have a larger library of games available. I bought a 360 at launch (no red lights of death) and it's amazing. For now, both systems have a lot of the same games.

I'd like to play Resistance and some of the upcoming PS3 exclusives, however I'd rather play my multi-platform games on the 360. Not only do a lot of them run better, but the 360 has the achievement system which is fun. I'm not a completionist, however I get a sense of accomplishment when the "achievement unlocked" window appears. Call me crazy, but I think achievements are a great idea. Sure, some of them are rather difficult to receive (# of online kills or hosting a certain number of games) but overall, I enjoy it.

I hear PS3 will have Sony Home where your little house has medals, trophies, and whatever to decorate it. That idea sounds interesting, however it's just a combination of the Wii's Miis and the 360's achievements. I imagine it to be like the Sims or something where you walk around and look at people's trophies on their mantle. It's a nice concept, but nothing original (unless you call combining ideas original).

So for me, two years is not much of a wait. I'll get the PS3 cheaper and all the current and upcoming games will probably be "Platinum Hits" for like $30 or something.

[Booneral]

Well, achievements system is addictive. It truly gives the sense of accomplishment. You can just go tell your friend "hey, I have beaten Gears of War on insane difficulty". Could you lie about that? No way, it's already a medal in your gamer profile.

My friend for example, got 1000 points from Test Drive Unlimited, he did every single race, and he went though every single free road on the game (crazy...there is also an achievement for that too). Whoever takes a look at his profile in that game, now tags along with him. So yeah, presenting success of a gamer in profile, is a good thing. It's like getting some good grades at school.

Sony needs that too, well I'll probably be playing multi-platform games on 360 as well but the system is addictive and fun.

As for the price, I'll just wait for now, till things settle down, PS3 gets some more good exclusives, and more features through firmware updates. That's what every non-fanboy gamers with Xbox 360 consoles do in general.

[PureGamer]

but instead of a gamer card you have trophys in a custom made house :) sounds sick.

[WTF]

By the time, ps3 get a price cut the Wii and the 360 will be below $250(360) and $150(wii).

[Daytona]

they can't maintain status quo and still expect to win in any country.