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Sony Firm On PS3 Pricing
Reuters has some last minute discussion on the high price of the PS3, as well as their plans for shipping 2 million units by December. From the article: "'We are very comfortable with the pricing we have announced and have gotten tremendous support from retailers for that price point,' Hirai said on the sidelines of the Dow Jones VentureWire Consumer Technology Conference. 'So it is full steam ahead with the pricing of $499 and $599.'"
'We are very comfortable with the pricing we have announced and have gotten tremendous support from retailers for that price point,'
Well, it's certainly comforting to know that the stores like the price.
I wonder if the consumers will.
Reality has a conservative bias: it conserves mass, energy, momentum...
Ok, I'm sure I can find the details online, but I've got a quickie question for those that will be buying the PS3 next week.
What is going to entice you to but the PS3 Premium, as opposed to the Basic? The basic will have the HDMI port, a 20gig drive (versus 60 right?) etc... etc...
So what exactly will you be 'getting' that you just have to have for an extra $100?
think before you write, it'll save me moderator points.
The retailers like it, Sony likes it, and two out of three ain't bad.
[Insert pithy quote here]
...after the "hardcore" gamers (who think the console is worth the price) have bought their PS3s, will the general public (parents who will buy a game console for their kids) be "comfortable" with the price? Heck... will they even find one in the stores, since Sony doesn't seem to be capable of building the machines in time? Yeah, perhaps the price right now is just a minor issue for Sony.
Like John Kerry before the midterm elections, somebody needs to stop these Sony execs from talking to anyone for a few weeks.
In accordance with E.O. 12958, this post is marked Unclassified.
from the going-to-have-to-bite-the-bullet dept
No we don't.
I keep telling myself I'm not the desperate type.
Fabulous new mobile phone, lots of bells and whistles = people happily pay $500
Fabulous new video iPod, lots of nice features = people giddily pay $500
Fabulous new game console, nex-gen features = people freak out, say $500 is way way too much.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
Welcome to Slashdot, where companies are evil for attempting to charge money for their products.
Such an interesting corner of reality the denizens of this site occupy.
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
How early adopters feel about the price, head out to ebay or amazon's product forums for the ps3 or your local BestBuy. Now, that's early adopters, they'll literally pay almost anything to get their hands on one. I've never understood why people make such a big deal out of the current price, up to xmas, they will have absolutely no problems selling every unit they produce. The REAL question is how quickly and by how much can they drop the price to start attracting the "average" consumer. If it's still $599 this time next year, they're doomed.
Firm on the fact that $600 is too-damned-much to pay for a gaming system!
Seriously, for that much money the games better knock my socks off and the console better massage my prostate.
"It's a tarp!" -- Dyslexic Admiral Ackbar
Re: Price / Console differences
The extra money gets you:
- 60GB hard drive
- Memory Stick/SD/CF card reader
- 802.11b/g wireless
The people who are most excited about Sony's complete lack of credibility are the XBOX360 people and the Wii people. Sony's already lost most of it's fanbase, and by the time the ps3 is actually available, most ps2 owners will have already bought another console. It only makes sense when you can buy a 360 and a Wii plus a Wii game for less than the unavailable ps3.
Here's the deal: If something changes, it's newsworthy. If nothing changes, there is no story.
*yawn*
Let me know when the price drops $100-200 in a few years. That's the news I'm waiting to hear.
Collector's Edition
They could have charged more for it (let's say $800) and they would still sell out the first batch of consoles. Then they could drop the price to something resonable 3-6 months later. Now the money is going to all the people selling them on ebay rather than Sony.
Didn't the xbox drop by $100 only 6 months after launch?
In Europe the XBox was initially overpriced and it was hurting sales so they cut the price a couple of months later; this pissed off most of the people who already purchased a XBox so they were forced to give people coupons for games (IIRC everyone who paid the initial price got 2 game coupons). The fact is that if you cut your price too often, or by too much, you're only going to upset the customers who already bought your system.
Personally, I believe the best strategy is to reduce the price $50 (or add a pack-in game) every 12 months; then even people who buy the system the day before the price drop/pack-in will not be that offended. The problem (with the PS3) is that at $500/$600 it will take 6 years at that rate before the average consumer will be willing to purchase your product; in that time Nintendo could release the Super Wii Advance that is 4 times as powerful as your system for $200.
"To love a thing is to know and love its nature. To love money is to know and love the fact that money is the creation of the best power within you, and your passkey to trade your effort for the effort of the best among men. It's the person who would sell his soul for a nickel, who is loudest in proclaiming his hatred of money -- and he has good reason to hate it. The lovers of money are willing to work for it. They know they are able to deserve it. --- AYN RAND
Circumcision is child abuse.
Fabulous new mobile phone, lots of bells and whistles = people happily pay $500
. If the hardware costs more than that, I expect the carrier to subsidize it as consideration for my decision to enter a service contract with them.
Personally, I would never pay more than about $300 for a mobile phone, and that's only if it's an all-in-one wonder like a Treo with built-in PDA/internet/bluetooth/flashlight/screwdriver/etc
Fabulous new video iPod, lots of nice features = people giddily pay $500
The current top-of-the-line iPod model (5G 80GB) sells for only $350.
Fabulous new game console, nex-gen features = people freak out, say $500 is way way too much.
There's no point in comparing a game console to a mobile phone or an MP3 player, though. That's an apples-to-figs-to-coconuts comparison.
For a meaningful, Braeburn-to-Red-Delicious-type comparison, one has to evaluate the PS3 in the context of other game consoles. No game console with a entry price above $300 has ever been a success--EVER.
(UK reader here)
I paid GBP99 for my PS2, but that was late in its life.
I'm really pretty sure that it debuted at GBP299, as did the X-Box and the original PlayStation. I think the Saturn debuted at GBP399.
299.00 GBP = 570.145 USD (From XE.com)
Now, I'm aware that we tend to get pretty badly screwed on new electronics, but still...
(And also, this does rather suggest there is a market for this sort of thing at that cost level.)
Greg
(Inside a nuclear plant)
Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!
Because then I'd say that Sony continues to not grok that we have other choices - xBox360 and Wii for example - that mean that $600 USD is indeed far too high, when we can get more cool games without a useless Blu-Ray laser device 90 percent of us don't need in the first place.
Plus, given Sony's prior track record, and high record of first-release failure with tech (remember the first PS2 boxen?), why should we want to pay for such things?
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --