A price cut for the expensive PlayStation 3 (PS3) console may be in the works as Sony’s chairman and CEO Howard Stringer acknowledged that consumers simply don’t want to pay the hefty €630 price tag.
Following lagging sales, with the company failing to make shipment targets in the financial year just ended, Stringer claimed that the success of its rival console, the Nintendo Wii, is down to its competitive price and good market strategy.
Compared to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii, the PS3 is roughly twice the price, with slightly higher prices in Europe than the US or Japan.
In the face of decreasing production cost, industry analysts predict that Sony may shave up to US$100 off the PS3 price before the year is out in order to cash in on the lucrative Christmas shopping period.
Sony has already been considering this price reduction strategy since January of this year, when senior vice-president Takao Yuhara said that it would happen when the timing was right.
Pricey consoles are not the only problem, with a limited range of games contributing to the slow consumer uptake. However, this summer Sony is increasing its range with titles like Spiderman 3, Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean.
By Marie Boran