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PS3 Assembly Starts End of September, Most High-End
GameDailyBiz is reporting that Sony has announced further details on the PS3 assembly process. Final assembly will apparently begin at the end of this month, with some 400K units planned for the November 17th launch. They're promising another 800,000 units by the end of the year. From that article: "Although Sony will have shipped only 2.4 million units worldwide in 2006 (as opposed to their initial forecast of 4 million), the company still believes it will hit its goal of 6 million shipped through next March. Sony said that monthly PS3 production will be ramped up to 1.2 million units in January when the Blu-ray laser supplies are expected to improve." Gamespot has further analysis, stating that the split will be about 80/20, favoring the higher-end model over the lower-end model. That is, most of the units at launch should be the $600 model with the HDMI port.
I'm guessing more in the range of $700-$800 because retailers will probably force bundled packages on us like they did with the XBOX 360 when it came out. And more likely so since this will be coming out right at the start of the holiday shopping season. It's going to be on many peoples shopping lists and people will pay those prices because someone on their list will be wanting one.
If Wikipedia is right and by the end of 2006 only ten percent of American's TVs are expected to be HDTVs, wouldn't it be wiser to switch those numbers around and have 20% high end, 80% "low" end? Is Japan's HDTV adaption rate really that much more than the US'? Am I missing something about what the $600 version offers that makes it much more interesting than the $500 besides the HDMI port?
Demented But Determined.
I am sure that the slashbots will turn this into a negative somehow..
This is not a suprise, Sony did this with the PS2 and guess what... it worked for them.
I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
Mark Twain
Hey, as long as I don't specify which year, I'm technically correct, right? So yes, Duke Nukem Forever will be ready for Christmas. Just remember, you heard it here first. Now spread the word.
Everything I say is a lie. Except that... and that... and that, and that, and that, and that... and that.
The premium version also boasts a larger hard-drive.
The 80/20 convention is still probably the right idea, since it's the early adopters that are most willing to buy a console at launch. They're probably much more likely to own an HDTV, over the general public. Furthermore, even if they don't have an HDTV, the mindset of an early adopter is to "future-proof" themselves and get the console with the most features, even if they may not use them all yet. It may be costly to upgrade later. And finally, there's the general fanboy opinion that the core version of any console is the "sucky one" and anyone who got suckered into buying is a "n00b". So there's that to consider as well.
In fact, one of the complaints with the 360 launch is that there were too many Core systems created, instead of Premium ones. People were very much willing to fork over the extra $100 for the Premium one (especially since it had an HD and the Core did not), but were forced to get the Core. It's never a good thing when you force your customers to spend less than they want to.
-- jchenx
I'm not too fond about Manufacturing processes for Electronic Equipment other than lighting products. Does anyone have any experience of their company being able to successfully ship out so many units with in a one month deadline?
If so, what was the projected returned products and the actual returned products?
----- You know you have ego issues when you register a domain in your name.
I remember that in previous PS3 threads whenever someone would say the PS3 cost $600, someone would always post and say "nuh-uh, most gamers will only need the $500 version!"
Well, it looks like most gamers will be stuck with the $600 version, need it or not!
Although it's probably actually a good move for launch. They can't possibly meet demand with only 500,000 PS3s at launch, so charging as much as possible makes sense.
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
What's with those numbers, 400K at launch and 800K more by the end of 06? How does that add up to 2.4 million out of the promised 4 million? Oh splitting the markets makes it sound better.
Assuming that the disparity of 1 million units accounts for the Japanese market(since the European launch has been delayed), they've managed to allude nicely so that it almost looks like they haven't completely failed their build plan. Perhaps they're hoping the price difference will keep store shelves stocked this season instead of doing it the way that benefits consumers.
Explode?...
Uh oh.
Either someone has their numbers wrong, or Sony is planning to have an extra 100K units available by the end of November. Either way, this means there will be even less units than recently stated, which was also less units than previously promised.
Sony should just hurry up and use a shotgun on their foot instead of a pistol. At least, if they are shipping more units in November but after launch, this is better than the 360, where they didn't send out additional shipments for a few weeks after initial release.
There's nothing like a tight supply to get the ebay vultures circling. I suspect the actual cost for the first few thousand units will be in the $1200-1500 range. Sadly, there are enough people out there who will feed the ebay scum.
Can you imagine what a Tickle Me Elmo would go for today (ex if it had happend in 2006 vs 1996), give then hype that surrounded it back then combined with the insane market that is ebay?
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
10% of every televisions... was an HDTV = 10% of all televisions... were HDTVs.
If you think I'm not going to try and rape some moron-with-too-much-money early adopter for $10k+ on eBay for the bundle I pay $800 for at retail, you're kidding yourself. I'm putting a nice downpayment on a new car with my PS3. It's certainly not something I'd buy for the games.
I already have a Nintendo DS for that.
Actually, the dev kits currently out don't even have full hardware support. There's minimal networking support, the controllers are nowhere near final (no tilt, no final design...) It's been rumored that the GPU on the most recent dev kits are at only 80% the speed the final PS3 (which has been dropped again)...
I want to see EVERY console do well, for the greater good (in innovation, consumer costs, FUN!) that competition brings, so the fact that SONY is bunging this up as badly as they are is only depressing.......I mean come on, who wouldn't want to play Madden with 6 of your buds by your side?!?!?
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
No, because "most gamers" won't buy their PS3 at launch (Because even if they wanted to there wouldn't be enough PS3s). I certainly won't buy one until the first (or most likely the second) round of slashing the price down to more sane values.
Although it's probably actually a good move for launch. They can't possibly meet demand with only 500,000 PS3s at launch, so charging as much as possible makes sense.
It just makes sense. I've yet to meet even one person who's happy that he got a 360 Core at launch but I've seen lots of people with Core systems complain that they couldn't get the Premium version.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
I distinctly remember a system that launched with about three games available, at a suggested retail price of $300 (or was it $400? something like that...). Supply was so scarce they sold on ebay for anywhere from $500-$2000. It's amazing what a launch right before christmas will do for you.
There is no -1 Disagree mod. Slashdot.org/faq defines mod options. USE IT.
Not sure myself. I had a co-worker flip his 360 for a bit of a profit, then he bought one later. I "might" be tempted to do the same thing with mine, but given the fact that there's 2 game systems coming out I'm not sure if this would be a swift move. I'd probably just buy one for myself and flip it if it looks like I can profit enough to nearly buy one again after xmas.
Of course I should probably do this with both the Wii and the PS3 come to think of it.
I'm joined at the hip to the GTA franchise but with Mario AND Zelda happening at launch (rather than 1-3 years down the road), Both are pretty tempting.