PS3 price drop in March 09?

rizzla

Apparently Sony might be reducing the price of their PS3 in March...

http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=26685950

Of course Sony will deny it cause the want people to continue to buy their console and not hold off.

Wonder how much of a price drop there will be, anyone else tempted by this news?

super_furry

Why leave it to March? Surely a pre-Christmas price cut would kick-start their sales. Can't see how any parent would buy a €399 PS3 for their kid's present when a €169 Xbox 360 will do just as well. I think it's going to be a tough Christmas for Sony.

RobertFoster

They leave it to March to try and get the most out of the Christmas period. Some people/parents will pay whatever, so long as it's got PlayStation written on it, and Sony may as well make the most out of it before dropping the price.

cozmik

RobertFoster wrote: »

Some people/parents will pay whatever,

True, but I bet they would get more sales if the price was reduced.

hokeypokey

how much of a cut would it be does anyone know?

noodler

id argue it would be a 100e price drop.

Personally I think I would rather have it for Xmas than wait 3 months.

Also you may not have such great bundle deals in March.

Obviously would have preferred it to have already have happened by now.

thebman

I got my PS3 the other day. Not waiting until March to buy one. My guess would be some part is going to be cheaper to produce by March. I don't think they are making that much money off the console still so they can't afford a massive price drop so they are saving the price drops so that it can be enough of a price drop to grab a headline.

So they might be able to drop the price 50 euro or something by Xmas but if they wait until March it would be 100 euro and was 400 now 300 looks a lot better than was 400 now 350.

I don't think its worth waiting, might as well get it now while you can get a bundle with LBP

rizzla

Just a follow up.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/944/944403p1.html

UK, January 13, 2009 - PlayStation 3 will see its price cut to 299 USD this April, with Microsoft to follow soon after by reducing the cost of its Xbox 360 Pro to 249 USD around the time of this year's E3 - that's according to industry Cassandra Michael Pachter, making his predictions for the year ahead in his latest NPD preview.

"Once the PS3 is at a more affordable price point (we expect a cut to $299 in April), we think that sales of that device will once again begin to grow," said Pachter in a report – picked up by gamesindustry.biz - that painted an optimistic picture for the industry. "We expect another cut in price for the Xbox 360, with the feature-laden Pro model likely to come down in price to $249 at or before this year's E3 show in June. We expect Nintendo to maintain Wii pricing at $249 until the company sees signs that demand is slowing, which means a price cut may not happen until late in the year, if at all."

Speculation arose about an imminent price drop for the PlayStation 3 on the back of leaked reports from an internal meeting last November, although Sony were quick to dispel rumours.

Still all just speculation. But a price drop for the 360 pro too, that would be interesting. Also, using xe.com currency converter $299 works out at €227 rounded up. So I suppose a price point in Irish stores of €250.

noodler

rizzla wrote: »

Just a follow up.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/944/944403p1.html



Still all just speculation. But a price drop for the 360 pro too, that would be interesting. Also, using xe.com currency converter $299 works out at €227 rounded up. So I suppose a price point in Irish stores of €250.

I could not doubt that more. Expect the euros strength to be ignored and a 300e price.

Vic Vinegar

noodler wrote: »

I could not doubt that more. Expect the euros strength to be ignored and a 300e price.

Yup, i agree with your analysis. Can't see it being less than €300

jester77

€250 is my sweet point for buying a PS3, once it hits that price I'll probably get one.

GothPunk

I'm not sure if Sony will go for a €100 price drop immediately, they'd be more likely to go for €50 March/April and then another €50 in October/November. They're always stressing how they're loosing money and want to make money from the system, so I think that as it costs less to make the console they'll go for gradual price cuts. The cost to make the PS3 has fallen 35% since launch, but they're still loosing money on it. I think €300 in March/April is far too optimistic, especially when you take into account the recession/weak Yen etc.

My complete wild guess is that there'll be a Slim PS3 November 2010 for €250.

If the PSN gets any better this year, I think we could see Xbox Live going free. Think about how much the PSN improved last year, if it makes a similar degree of improvements this year I could see Live customers begin to question why they pay for Live anymore. Then again, I'm not Microsoft. I'm sure they make more money charging people for Live than they lose because of people like me who won't buy a system that charges for online. If the Elite got another price cut, I think I'd have to get me a 360! The 360 could get cheaper to manufacture if/when they start introducing a combined CPU/GPU model. (Was rumoured a while ago, codename 'Valhalla' apparently)

Tweaky

I'm currently on the lookout for a PS3 and have come across this price drop rumour on a few forums. I am willing to hold off for a while if i thought that there was a strong possibility of a price drop. Have we seen anything else to substantiate the rumour ?
I agree that €300 is probably a price point that will be picked for Ireland and the rest of the Eurozone. However with the weak sterling a price drop in the UK would see us being able to buy from the likes of Dabs.ie for around the € 250 mark. That would definitely be good value.

noodler

For 325e and 3 free games I fell like I got a bargain for my 80gb to be honest. Never had a conolse that could do so much.

Cunny-Funt

I just ordered a ps3 this week for 319e 80gb new. No games though. Although I bought LBP for 24 euro off play.com

infact I ordered both a hdmi cable for 8.99 and the game from play on monday.

And I was told the next day that my game had been shipped. Then on wednesday I was told my cable had been shipped. Yet I got my cable today :S

And have yet to receive the game, odd.

I bought the ps3 from dabs though. Tried ordering that on monday but of course its dabs, so it took a week of bull**** before they finally shipped it today :mad:

Gamesnash.ie: Pat

This is from an article published today by gameindustry.biz - two angles to take on it but from what I can see personally it's unlikely ....

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's David Reeves has said that he believes the PlayStation 3 will always demand the highest price in the home console market.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with our sister site Eurogamer.net, Reeves admitted that there is a possibility for a price cut on the luxury console – but no plans are in place due to the current economic downturn.
"I think it will, yes," said Reeves, when asked whether he would agree the PS3 will remain the most expensive console.
"I'm not saying there are going to be any price cuts at all in the short term or the medium term. I'm not saying we don't need to do it - we are expensive. It is possible that as the cost [of manufacturing] comes down, we will be able to do it.
"But we're protecting ourselves with a very hard shell to get through the next one or two years of an economic situation. If you're experienced, you know you have to go into that mode - it's like being an armadillo. You have to be hard, and then you will come out when the sun comes out."
He added: "If, as an industry, we can get through the next six to seven months, we're going to find a massive uplift in September and October. I'm very optimistic about it."
Commenting on yesterday's results for the third quarter, which showed hardware sales across all PlayStation brands were in decline, Reeves stated that Sony's intention was to break even, rather than increase market share or gain larger sales numbers.
"The plan wasn't necessarily to hit sales, it was to hit a profit target - to do better than break even in Q3," stated Reeves.
"The financial results show a break even in Q3 for Sony Computer Entertainment worldwide. So rather than then going for market share and sales, we went for profit, at least to break even," he revealed.
And although the PlayStation 3 sold less in the last quarter of 2008 than it did for the same period in 2007, Reeves denied sales of the hardware had peaked.
"Absolutely not," he said. "We're two-and-a-half years into a ten year cycle. For October, November and December we were in a holding pattern, especially with the pricing. We had to demonstrate we could make a profit with the business model, and that's what we've done."

It's not being ruled out but the days of console manufacturers reaching for market share whatever the cost do seem to be over.

noodler

Gamesnash.ie wrote: »

This is from an article published today by gameindustry.biz - two angles to take on it but from what I can see personally it's unlikely ....



It's not being ruled out but the days of console manufacturers reaching for market share whatever the cost do seem to be over.

If they are serious about a ten yr plan then i guess it makes sense to a point.

It will always be more expensive than the 360 and Wii for simple parts reasons and thats with a price drop. They also have ps2 and psp sales to offset ps3 losses so maybe its a viable strategy. I like the idea of ps3 being supported for 10 years alright.

GothPunk

David Reeves wrote:

...we're going to find a massive uplift in September and October...

Is that sekrit PR talk for price drop in late September?

I read the full interview on Eurogamer, I like David Reeves, he doesn't say a lot of bull**** like a lot of the head honchos end up saying. There is some bull**** of course, but I like the fact that he's up front about the high price of the PS3 and the fact that the PSP needs more support.

lmimmfn

Big announcement today, maybe a price cut? - http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=212055

mise

Big announcement turned out to be a price drop for the PS2 to $100, tho staying the same price in the UK

http://kotaku.com/5192184/ps2-price-stays-the-same-for-the-uk

Kiith

I think they got the definition of the word 'big' a bit wrong.

Zeouterlimits

mise wrote: »

Big announcement turned out to be a price drop for the PS2 to $100, tho staying the same price in the UK

http://kotaku.com/5192184/ps2-price-stays-the-same-for-the-uk

It's staying the same in the UK, does that mean it'll be the same here?

Kiith

It'll probably go up here :rolleyes:

Retr0gamer

Zeouterlimits wrote: »

It's staying the same in the UK, does that mean it'll be the same here?

The price drop will effect europe other than the UK. These companies are getting worried about the strong euro versus the Sterling. Nintendo have even announced they will be increasing the cost of the Wii in the UK.

Zeouterlimits

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The price drop will effect europe other than the UK. These companies are getting worried about the strong euro versus the Sterling. Nintendo have even announced they will be increasing the cost of the Wii in the UK.

I am aware of that, was just unsure, consider some of the suppliers may be British, that's all.

Gamesnash.ie: Pat

Zeouterlimits wrote: »

I am aware of that, was just unsure, consider some of the suppliers may be British, that's all.

The majority of Irish stock is sourced from UK offices of the various publishers but the wholesale and retail price structure has always been different for Ireland. We won't be lumped in with the UK.