News Sony: No price cuts planned

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/11/25/sony-no-price-cuts-planned/1

Sony has dismissed rumours of a coming PlayStation 3 price cut in March and confirmed it has no price cuts planned.

 

Of course they did. Do you expect them to say "Don't bother buying our console now it will cost less in 4 months."?

 

I was told by a Sony rep at my work they're releasing a Slim & Lite version of the PS3 around "easter" and that it's going to be £200.

I believe him

 

I still think it represents good value but they could do with a price cut they are loosing stacks of ground to the 360 since it dropped its price.

A redesigned PS3 can't come soon enough although unlike most I wouldn't mind paying bit more for it if it had integrated tuners, twin HDMI and a size/shape that easier fits in an AV setup.

 

how about, no one buy a PS3....... this should make sony drop the price in order to shift units

 

hmm slim and lite for easter.. what will they drop from it to
a) Make sure they actually make money on each box and don't sell them at a loss (like they have on the current model)
b) Make it a Lite Edition? Wifi dropped and USB down to 1 port? Wired controllers?

Good value? Only if you care about Bluray, as a console itself it's a horrible rippoff

 

I think now is a great time to buy a PS3, some great deals out there plus games at moment

 

In NZ the PS3 is exactly double the price of the xbox 360 (the version above arcade, I forget the name). There is no way that's worth it, especially when people are going to see games like Fallout 3 run on both and not be able to spot the difference or worse, since many ported games actually perform worse on Sony's superior hardware. Bluray isn't enough at this point, they need a pricecut.

 

As a gaming system the PS3 is STUPIDLY priced.

However--
If you're looking for a Blu-Ray player, DVD-Upscaler, and a next-gen (current-gen?) gaming system at the same time, well I think the PS3 @ $400 isn't so bad.

But that's a fairly small marketing niche.

 

Understably people are upset when there is no pricecut. But this year, I don't think Sony can really afford to get into a price war with MS. Just as MS last year wasn't quick to drop the price when Sony slashed $100 off the PS3. Sony is still losing money on every unit sold. If they keep cutting the price without getting the new price point time to saturate they will devalue the console too soon and will have loses even far greater then they have already experienced. Price cuts are great for everybody, when they are feasable but right now it's just not smart on Sony's part. A sales boost would be great, but at what cost? The whole division?

 

Sony has decided to appeal to a different audience this time around. They knew those who "just wanted to game" and didn't really care about their exclusives or watching Blu-Ray movies were probably going to buy a 360. 360 is not the best console by any means (I think every console meets the needs of different markets/gamers/etc. making it "the best" to different people), but it meets the value of what many people care about and that's solely gaming with a few extra features to boast. With PS3 including everything in the same box rather than offering different SKUs w/ less HW at different price points, Sony knew/knows that $400 can only be justified through the extra uses like Blu-Ray movie player, DVD-upscaling, easy-to-use/setup Home Media client, etc. IMO, they are offering enough in the box and free PSN access at the moment that I don't think they need to drop the price; I think the console is cost-justified if all of those uses are/will be utilized. What they need to do is start adding more stuff to that $400 (an extra controller, extra game, extra movie or both)....

 

Theres no where any place near that I know of that rents Bluray discs.
I'll be using my upscaling Pioneer DVD player and watching DVD's in 720p....for quite a while yet....

I spoke to my local video rental store owner, and he says he has no demand whatsoever yet....apart from me and i'm just a tech whore, but still won't go bluray until I can rent discs...

 

Another slow news day??

Seriously, are you doing this, "sony, no price cuts" on a fortnightly basis now??? This aint news, its fact so wheres the story?

 

The ps3 has been a dissapointment from the get-go....nothing they do now will suddenly change that when the other two consoles are doing more than twice as well for half the price.

Sony, you had everything going for you and you blew it with your expensive hardware, expensive periphrals and expensive games....you see where you went wrong?

 

I agree that the PS3 way too overpriced when it debuted. $599 was just ridiculous, but in all fairness the comparable 360 Elite cost just as much when it debuted at $479 as the 60GB PS3 at $499? 360 titles cost $60 just like PS3 titles.... 360's peripherals cost just as much as PS3's.... Heck, 360's 120GB HDD = $150, Wireless adapter = $100, Rechargeable battery packs = $12, Online Multiplayer = $50/yr. PS3 offers you any standard PC 2.5" SATA HDD, Wireless is built-in, all controllers are rechargeable and online multiplayer is free....it's hard to believe everything you said. The only thing Sony needs to start doing is including a 3' HDMI cable because at BestBuy alone they cost $30 which is just ridiculous....

 

Actually yes you prove a fair point and I will say Touche to that.

I still think Sony's attitude has been elitist, pricing so high hoping the fanboys out there will carry them into the #1 console spot simply on the back of the playstation brand (remember their comment "you would be priviledged to own a ps3 at this price! you should be thankful!" this was before it was reduced (its on bit-tech somewhere, pretty much along those lines. I think that hasnt worked out because the Wii and Xbox 360 really put in a good showing of their own.

Sainsburys were selling the xbox 360 for £99 a few weeks ago as a promotional offer (arcade version mind you)....a console that has more going for it which is why I think the ps3 is still over-priced. You know they still charge the same price for ps2 joypads as they did on release? £20!!
I have mentioned this before and il do so again - Its these underhand tactics that have really left me annoyed with Sony:

Charging for joypads on a ps2 console when they are identical to ps1 joypads but they intentionally made them incompatible so poor sods like us shelled out cash. They made memory cards incompatible too....also the multi-taps simply to milk us for more.

You dont see that attitude in the Wii or xbox 360 (well not as blatently)

regardless its not about being a fanboy or hating. Despite me hating the ps3 and sony for their attitudes I would buy it and defend it if it actually had anything going for it....but it doesnt?...it really doesnt have anything feasibly going for it apart from the odd game here and there, the console is a flop on an epic scale. The market leader has become the straggler? Money lost on every console sold and Sony relying on Licensing and extra componants to generate the income but what games are there to really shout about apart from...(top of my head now...) MGS 4 and maybe littlebigplanet? especially compared to the top titles on the Wii or 360?

How do you justify spending more on a console thats difficult to code for and develope games for even after over a year on the market? when no developer bar hideo kojima has really really managed to show a glimpse of the consoles potential?

blu-ray player you say? Most people still buy dvds! I mean were on a technology website so fair enough, i hear you guys shout "I do, I do" and thats to be expected on bit-tech... but everyone I know within my circle of friends has no need for blu-ray just yet! Ask your non-technologically informed friends too, do they? I would bet unless they are like you they wont and people like these are the everyday joes that make the difference.

If the ps3 suddenly became cheaper/better value and represented correctly its position within the market right now (and currently the market loser) then I would say its great value and worth it because you have all its benefits that correctly fit into how it is doing. There is no point selling a Audi A3 when you can get a VW golf and SEAT Leon that do the job just as well for less
(incase noone understands this metaphor, Audi, VW and SEAT are all owned by VW, they all usually have the same engine and mechanics so performance is identicle without the bonus extra, cheaper dashboards)

SEAT - A poor mans VW
VW - A poor mans Audi
Audi....the ps3 that noone really needs because the VW and SEAT work just as well!

Ok my ramblings are done!