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Sony Open to Considering PS3 Price Cuts
njkid1 writes with word that Sony is considering dropping the PS3's price. The Mercury news reports that Sony Senior Vice President Takao Yuhara has admitted they are investigating whether to drop the PlayStation 3 in price around the world, despite statements previously made that the 'lower' PS3 price in Japan is hurting Sony's bottom line. Profits for the company slipped some five percent in the October-December period, and the shortfall expected through March could be even worse than previously predicted. The article points out the possibly risky nature of a price cut for such an expensive item so early in its lifespan, and notes the stiff competition from the Xbox 360 and the Wii.
Burn a huge pile of real money and put the video up on Revver. Bound to make more money than cutting the PS3 price.
I wonder if I use bold in my signature, people will notice my posts.
But why would I buy a PS3 when the demo units at the stores are usually frozen and the demo game is unimpressive? There are better places to blow your money.
I sort of hope that they drop the price so more will sell, but I spent $647.99 on my PS3. =(
As much as I hate to say it, Sony has no chance, and the fact that they have to do a price drop on their console this early in its lifespan especially when they're taking a huge loss on it already, proves it.
The Wii is selling like hotcakes and the PS3 is already requiring a price drop.
Anyone else betting that Sony learns nothing from this?
They seriously need to figure out that, when someone buys a game system, we want to PLAY GAMES ON IT. We don't need to watch movies, listen to MP3s, view images, surf the web, do our dishes, and drive to work using the same machine.
You'd be mad not to want to pay £700 or whatever it's going to cost in the uk, for a games console! Why not round it up to £1000, and charge £100 a game!
Sony Corp. will reach only 75% of its global target for PlayStation 3 sales this fiscal year through March, according to a Nomura report released 15th Jan.
They originally planned 6 mil, adjusted to 4.5 mil now. more...
Enough with this PS3 talk. The numbers show the consumers don't care, and there are more interesting things to talk about on /.
That is at least until the (unlikely) event that the non-fanboi consumer starts getting interested in Sony's nexgen child.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
instead of having no sale. The real money is in the games and add-ons after they sell the console. Sure it might hurt them more near term, but not getting into the living room will cost them more down the road.
of course since you can still buy PS2s many might opt that route if they don't like WII or XBOX360
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
All of the "super smart analysts" say the PS3 and blu-ray are going to dominate their respective markets...
Im not thrilled about getting a PS3 anytime soon, but at $600 you really are getting a great deal. I think they should lower the price of their largely inferior 20GB model to $300-$400 in order to sell them. A person willing to spend that much on the 20GB model will surely want it for gaming and that can bring up sells in the software dept.
You constantly struggle for self improvement - and it shows.
Hooray for bad Engrish on fortune cookies
By announcing that they're considering a price drop - they'll kill sales for a while. Anyone considering buying a PS/3 will hold off till after the price drop. Except for people who MUST have one now. Given the dearth of launch titles and the slackening of demand - those folks already have a PS/3.
Now they have to drop prices and quickly.
[Insert pithy quote here]
the 'lower' PS3 price in Japan is hurting Sony's bottom line
NOT selling a PS3 hurts the bottom line even more.
We also want to play games on it. This means that games from smaller developers need to run, not error out with "Cannot load game because it is not signed." That's part of why PLAYSTATION 3 has Linux, so that innovative 2D games from smaller developers can run.
go tell that those that spent like 2k or 5k for buying one on eBay... THEY must be sorry right now.
Exclusivity does have a price tag on it.
If you look like your passport photo, you're too ill to travel. - Will Kommen
Yes. In titles without the image constraint token, the resolution far exceeds that of DVD-Video in both luma and chroma. Even with the image constraint token, the chroma resolution is double that of DVD-Video in each dimension. The major American movie studios that have adopted Blu-ray Disc have agreed not to use the image constraint token for the first few years of releases. But whether Warner Bros., Paramount, Disney, and Fox use the image constraint token in future Blu-ray Disc titles is not Sony's to control.
I probably sound quite bitter, but I hope they don't do it. I _want_ them to get thoroughly boned for their rampant anti-consumer bahavior. Yes, I'm still pissed about rookits, yes, I'm still pissed about fake advertisements. Peoples memories are too damn short, and companies have been getting exploiting that fact for too long. Nothing beats a good financial thrashing for keeping corporations honest.
If I were interested in buying a PS3 (I'm not), I wouldn't be able to get one. I live in Southern California, and have never seen one on a shelf. I've heard anecdotes of people seing a ton at a best buy somewhere, but I just haven't seen this. I shop regularly at Fry's, Target, Best Buy, Costco, etc. I've never seen one in stock. Maybe they'd sell more units if they could get them out the door.
In America at least, we by nature forgive and forget. IANAL, but only when we feel we've been "made whole" does this occur. That the transgression before us has been repaired to our satisfaction.
Take Coke. We were told by the company that their newest was the greatest shit on earth and all other colas might as well pack it in. They even took away Coke. The Coke we all knew and loved. A Coke that all they had to do was not fuck it up.
And they fucked it up.
And there was outrage. More importantly, there were no sales of this New Coke. Yet people as I recall were selling two liters of old, or Classic Coke for hundreds of dollars.
And they saw this outrage and maybe cared, maybe not. But they saw the sales in those markets. And their New Coke had a short, painful life, and a quiet death. I don't even know if they promoted when the sliver stripe on the cans disappeared and Classic Coke was just Coke again.
Because they could. Because THEIR product does not have to evolve and is unique within their domain. They were smart enough, God help me, to realize that they had a great product in their domain, and their customers were willing to fight for it; all they had to do is not fuck it up.
THEY could say they fucked up, go back to the Classic taste we all loved, and sure, even drop the price if they wanted to to sweeten the deal a little, slight pun intended. And we would forgive them because they made us whole, we had our Coke again and the world was right.
Their product allowed for a fuck up of such massive proportions. A gig in management there must be sweet.
Sony assumes that the BRANDNAME "Playstation" carries all the attributes of a Classic Coke. No. Their product does have to evolve and becomes less and less unique by the day. They cannot just apologize, with their tails between their legs go back to what they had, drop the price a little, and make us all whole and happy with their product again.
Sony must make their "New Coke" fly.....and now they must try to repair the injury to their fans and make them whole again. A price drop alone cannot accomplish this, I wonder if anything they do really can. I wish them luck but I'm betting this will be another how not to succeed example in business classes across the globe in a few years.
...version and I'm in. It should have been this way from the beginning.
Argh. The laws of science be a harsh mistress.
why don't you go to one of those threads... :-\
Apparently Sony is unaware of the phrase "too little too late"
All your customer are belong to us
You have no chance make your time
Ha ha ha ha
The road to tyranny has always been paved with claims of necessity.
...to fund the development of the Playstation 4 and prepare for their next bout of battery explosions.
Exactly. I put the PS3's worth at around $300 USD. That's the going rate of a first Gen HD-DVD player, which is what the PS3 is (a first gen Blu-Ray player). If they charge $300 and throw in a movie worth watching in HD (Taladega Nights doesn't count. I mean a movie that is sold on it's visual appeal) they might have another sale.
This is absolutely correct, and the parent's parent is as exactly woefully mistaken as Coke wanted them to be.
:)
Coke did not go from Coke to New Coke and then go "oh noes, we are losing all the profits" and change back to Coke Classic for the consumer - that's exactly what they wanted to happen, to have people think - to think they had "won" and got old Coke back. Coke won, and they didn't get old Coke back.
The change in formula the parent refers to is a simple one - replacing sugar with corn syrup. A slight change in taste, but a much cheaper product, saving Coke somewhere around a cent a can - a HUGE amount of money. They couldn't just foist this on people, as it did taste slightly different, and people would notice the change, and complain.
So, they changed the formula of Coke to new Coke (I'm not sure whether New Coke had corn syrup or sugar in it), then waited a few years for all the Coke to disappear, for people to forget what it was exactly like... then brought in Coke Classic, aka Old Coke but Cheaper. Consumers get to feel like the won and get their "old" product back, Coke gets to gloat smugly and quietly and rake in the profits. And credit to them, it was a brave and amazigly shrewd bit of business.
I don't think this has anything to do with the original thread anymore, but it's a good thing to know
Someone mentioned a huge throbbing joke in there somewhere, but I'm boned if I can find it.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
Sony is moving to a 65nm process for the Cell much sooner than most expected. Perhaps they plan on keeping their loss the same per-unit, and passing the new savings down to spur sales?
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
Yes it can play movies. It cannot play DVD's , but it can play motion Jpeg (a Quicktime format) which I have used (My Nikon CoolPix records in that format) in the Photo Channel.
Sony has done absolutely *nothing* right this generation. They're too late, with technology to match their intended launch date of last year. They threw in a GPU too late to the game because they thought their wonderfull cell processor would make a powerfull enough GPU. The cell is nice in theory, but there's too many restrictions and memory-wrangling in practice. They're up against the 360, with a 10+ million installed base, second-gen games, and a lower price point - Oh and Halo 3 is due out this holiday season or there about. They're up against the Wii at less than half the price, and cheaper games they can't match on innovation. The launch catalog was anemic with no real stand-outs, and there's nothing big on the radar except MGS4. They're losing exclusive third-party titles left and right to the 360.
Devs are comfortable on their competitors' machines - The Wii is just a faster gamecube (literally) with a neat controller, and while the 360 is relatively complex they've got wonderful top-notch tools to support development and an architecture thats doesn't have a split memory model or hobbled assymetric CPU.
Despite the high price, they're loosing about $175 - $225 per unit (depending on the model) while their competotors' machines are already profitable hardware. Nintendo has never sold an unprofitable machine, and right now, Microsoft could give consumers a $50 price drop and take each new owner out to lunch before they would go back into the red.
Mark my words -- If the earth doesn't shake for Sony real soon they'll be a distant third this time around, and may be foreced to drop from the race early or even for good, and if Sony's game division fails its going to make a huge hit on the entire company's bottom line.
They're arrogant over an overpriced architecture that hurts more than it helps, all in the name of pushing their BluRay format.
Sony will be Japan's General Motors.
Like GM is to the US, Sony is the poster child of Japan's industrial growth -- and in ten years
they will be in a desperate struggle for survival.
Think that's too grim?
Watch.
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
This thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=79 8080&page=1&pp=30 showed that the blue-ray disc is gaining ground. the blueray disc is out selling hd-dvd 2:1.
I already have a DVD player to watch movies with, and I will get an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player if I want someday (though I would prefer a direct download service instead). I already have a computer to handle my internet-related interests. I already have a toaster, a fridge and a vaccuum cleaner.
Just give me a game machine that plays games and doesn't rival my car in sticker price.
About a week and a half ago Sony actually raised the Price of the PS3 in Canada which forced retailers to raise their prices or sell out the rest of their inventory at the old price. The PS3 is currently sitting at a Price of $700 at Future Shop and Best Buy.
The original Xbox dropped $100 5 months after its launch, 1 day after Sony dropped $100 from the price of the PS2 (both down to $199). Let's hope one of them budges and history repeats itself, because I am really interested in Gears of War and Crackdown, and the triumphant return of co-op play.
some might be holding out on buying a 360 and this might make their decision a little better in the future.
It gives them hope...
... Because my memory is good and I remember the crap Sony inflicted upon us.
Sheep we are apparently.
Never ascribe to malice what can be adequately attributed to ignorance. -Napoleon
I'm still pissed that they sued Lik-Sang out of business.
This was probably planned from the start. It would be stupid to start at their target price when the market is willing to pay much more. Start high, wait for manufacturing to pass demand, drop price to initial target.
I can also watch movies for free on youtube, but I wouldn't consider that a feature because it sucks ass.
Kinda like watching video on the Wii. The sucking ass part I mean.
Sony doesn't need to be copying Nintendo. They should be copying Microsoft. In lots of things. Demos? Sony needs more. Games? Get them here.
Online is a sticky subject, since as a PC gamer I detest Microsoft's handling of online. It's complete shit. Compared to the PC experience, I mean.
....and the demo games are unimpressive. I was able to play the Motorstorm demo and it was good.
But nice trolling... of course it's modded +5 insightful by Microsoft fanboys.
I had an xbox, but it caught my house on fire. so I got another one, but it cracked open and spilled battery acid on mom's new rug.
then I got another one, and it broke the TV, make the cat crazy and insulted my parakeet.
and it doesn't even have blue-ray
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Sony is the only company I can think of off the top of my head in which I feel personal glee and satisfaction whenever their "next best thing" in (pick your area of entertainment) flops.
From the times I've been burned by their customer service, to the times in which I've watched others get burned - I find that I am honestly amazed that these morons even run a profit.
"To work for libertarianism -- to oppose the growth of government and aid the liberation of the individual -- used to be
This would ordinarily be modded insightful, but given the huge mindshare that Microsoft has accumulated towards it's XBox 360 on Slashdot, crap like "I saw no demo units working so I don't want to spend any money on it even though XBox has had more problems with it's machine", gets modded +5 insightful.
This is basically a FUD piece.
It's funny how Microsoft has basically taken control of Slashdot by converting the majority of Slashdotters into XBox 360 fanboys even when the Sony PS3 has Linux on it.
If you recall, over the Christmas holiday shopping season both Sony and Microsoft encouraged players to buy the Wii (as a second player instead of what was thought would be their main competitor.)
The advertising paid off. Unfortunately for both Sony and Microsoft...they got their wish. Nintendo made out like a bandit.
If you've never been modded as "flamebait" or "troll," you've never tried to argue a minority viewpoint here!
Far too late for many to see this, but I thought I should point out that your reasoning is a little out of touch with accounting.
Lets just say it costs them $700 to make the system
Ok, let's say Sony starts, on paper, with $0 cash and $0 assets within the PS3 realm: their balance sheet looks like this:
Cash $0
Assets $0
Now, they make a PS3. Their sheet looks like:
and it costs $600 for the person to buy it.
Cash $-700
Assets $600 (saleable price)
This means if someone buys it, they lose $100.
If nobody buys it they lose $700.
If nobody buys it, they *still* lose only $100, for a time. Their stock of PS3s will not immediately (say, within the fiscal year) have such a dramatic decline in price that they would lose $700 by not selling. In fact, I can't think of any sane situations in which that might be the case.
If you look at it that way, they could still have a decent-looking balance sheet. The problem will be whether or not they can offload this stuff down the road, before the cost of components - or other gaming innovations - drive the relative worth of the PS3 down the tubes for good.
Sony ha
If high price and over-featured are the causes of falling PS3 sales, can we predict a similar result for Apple's iPhone?
Causal users: "We don't want a Wiimotified mobile cell phone, we don't need an OSX running on it, we just need a cell phone that is simple to use and not running out of batteries in a couple of hours?
You mean Sony will reduce the price of a consumable product?
Who'd've thought it? I mean, I imagined the price of the PS3 staying the same forever. Oh yes.
Hello, Zonk, how's you doin', you XBox fanboy you.
Here's the real news: PS3 has sold out. It will continue to sell out. Myself and bunch of likeminded European will lap it up.
The only halfdecent 360 RPG sold less copies than the most recent Dreamcast title. LOL. The Japanese continue to eat up the PS3; the Europeans will quickly do so.
And then the world won't give two hoots what happens in the US - let M$oft have it.
## NB: Comment here
Oh yeah! The 3DO! Amazing system, but it cost way to much. $700 back when it came out in the mid to late 90s.
It's about time people got some perspective around here.
> which is what the PS3 is (a first gen Blu-Ray player)
With a 3d card and a hard drive. That's perhaps another hundred bucks there.
Even though what you said has truth in it, the issue not that consumers don't know what they want (or are whiny, or lie).
The issue is that consumers know they don't want to spend money. I can't think of very many people who would refuse a PS3 if it cost $20. I don't think features has anything to do with it, except that consumers aren't looking for features or even good value, they are looking for a low priced item that meets their minimum requirements (however high or low those requirements may be).
However, dollar for dollar, people are more likely to buy a product with more features. If the PS3 were sitting next to the PS2 and they were identically priced, the consumer is more likely to buy the PS3. As a rule (and there are always exceptions), people are spec chasers. But there is a limit to that, and that gets back to the price point of whatever the consumer's minimum requirement is.
If I'm lucky that'll make up for most of the electric bill from using it.
I want an Xbox360. However, many I see in stores are frozen at the "contact Xbox.com/support" screen..... I certainly hope it's just a crap demo disk that's crashed and that it's not usual for xbox360 when at home with real games??!!
Sony can
1. Try really hard to pull more power from the cell, make it on time for a killing game before the market abandon ps3.
2. Admit it a failure. Then quickly recover with PS4 (or PS2+).
Prolong a failing war is damn dead wrong!!!
I really hope they put in MPEG4 support in there though. It used to be MJepg was the only video format cameras/phones supported. Now most stuff can record to MPEG4.
They did a great job on the picture veiewer too.
I actually wish my new Wii did play DVD's. My PS2 just crapped out (bought launch day) and I'd need to get another PS2 or a priority DVD player if I want to play DVD's on my TV. Currently I just watch DVDs on my computer monitor. My computer has a DVI out and S-video out so I could hook it up to my TV, but I've been too lazy, because I'd need to buy an extension cord to make it work.
"To be is to do." --Socrates
"To do is to be." -- Aristotle
"Do-Be-Do-Be-Do..." --Sinatra
Sony today is rumored to lose $200 per PS3 sold. If they cut their lower end model to $300, they'd be losing $400 per unit. Let's assume Sony gets 10% of profits for each game sold (this is probably too high). Average "next-gen" game price is $60. That would mean that for every console sold, they need an attach rate of 67 games per console. I don't see that happening.
Sony on the other hand has been let off with a few words of warning then quietly and quickly let go. Wheres the anti-Sony action by the U.S. Supreme Court for DRM damages? Wheres the hordes of anti-Sony flamers? Why are people still buying Walkman's (instead of iPods), Sony LCDs (instead of Sharp LCDs) and Sony PSPs (instead of DSs or GBAs)?
The huge issues that Sony is having with the PS3 is the following:
1) Cost - Despite all the shineys and bells & whistles, the majority of game players cannot afford a $599 or $699 system. People here and elsewhere can say "The XBox 360..." but keep in mind the most expensive Xbox 360 is $499. I would buy a PS3, but at $599 that is my whole check there and I like the idea of eating and living in a house. Cost is a major factor when you have a budget and most of the US readers would agree.
2) Games - Right now there is no worth while game to play on the PS3 or in the near future. Most of the titles that are "hot" on the PS3 can be found on Xbox 360. Also, it seems that the PS3's main focus less on games and more on the Blu Ray tech and the technology itself. Sony Computer Entertainment has forgotten major aspects of game design and is creating games that are just simply not fun. Most of the game industry is also unhappy with the design tools used to create these games. They complain that the tools are too complicated to use and/or have more bugs than a roach motel. I guess Sony forgot the old saying "He who ignores history is damned to repeat it". Remember Sega's Saturn and the Neo Geo Sony? Guess not....
3) Sony's General Health - When people talk about the PS3, they keep mentioning Sony like it is a single unit. People remember - Sony Computer Entertainment is responsible for the Playstation and that it is a child of the Sony Corporation. Sony Corp right now is not fairing well. The corporation has pinned a lot of hope in the launch and the success of the Blu Ray and the PS3 in order to counteract the slumping sales of TV, Radio, and Computers. However, to slap such unneeded stuff like MP3 player capacities and things that the XBox 360 does not do in order to boost the Corporation is a foolish move. This move just shows that Sony Corp has no idea what the game community wants and wants to save Sony by adding on things that a gamer may not use. Sony Computer Entertainment has little say in this matter since they are dealing with the parent company. To make an analogy - It is like the blind leading the blind. In the end the gamer is not cared for just so Sony can believe they are winning a war they are in fact losing.
In the end, if Sony in general continues this path this PS3 will be remembered as the Neo Geo 2007. Sony needs to stop worrying about the technology, Blu Ray and what not and get back to what got the PS and PS2 where they are - the GAME PLAYER.
_____________
"Whenever I get down, I remind myself - At least I am not Kevin Featherline "
The methodology is not published. Much of VGCharts data is taking Media Create and NPD numbers and adding or multiplying whatever the person (behind VG Charts) decides.
If you want real information, use what the industry uses. For Japan, there is Media Create and Famitsu which is public and published weekly. For United States, you have NPD each month which tracks 60% of stores and uses estimates for the other 40% (which includes Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is definately factored in). For Europe, it is harder since trackers seem varied for each country. UK's data is published as is France and Spain.
We'll know more when we get the NPD info for January and any European data for PS3's performance. But it is very grim for PS3 in Japan as it sells around 20,000 each week compared to Wii's 85,000. If Wii stopped selling today in Japan, the PS3 would catch up to Wii's yield sometime in October of 2007. DS yield is about to surpass the GBA yield in Japan. Wii's sales are so far matching the momentum of PS2 in Japan. If Wii keeps selling at its standard 80,000 a week, it will soon be outselling the PS2 at a similiar time in its lifestyle.
Anyway, please don't cite VG Charts. The guy behind it tries to advertise his site like mad and is probably trying to get money off it. Not that getting money off it is wrong, but that he is taking other sources' data like Media Create and adding in God knows what numbers (VG Charts methodology is not shared so therefore cannot be trusted).
So Sony's game division isn't doing so hot this year. Maybe it will get hit by a meteor and be a total loss year. Sony would continue onward with more of a damage to confidence than to their underlying financial fundamentals, because the games division is merely a portion of their total business (just like XBox is about prestige and positioning for Microsoft, not for making them a large portion of their sales in any given year). Did you know Sony sells *life insurance*, for crying out loud? In addition to home electronics, video games, movies, music, banking services, other insurance products, and being an ISP.
Take a look at their annual report for 2005: the games division (hardware + software) contributes an earthshattering TEN PERCENT of their sales in the year. By comparison, 66.5% is home electronics (TVs, PCs, walkmans, rice cookers, etc etc).
If I could buy stock in just the PS3 I'd short the heck out of it, but Sony as a whole is doing pretty well recently, and I haven't seen a great argument on why that will reverse course anytime soon.
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
...it requires huge financial investment-five hundred and ninety-nine US dollars-five hundred and ninety-nine US dollars-five hundred and ninety-nine US dollars-
So, what does all this mean? Simply put- RIIIIIDGE RACEEEER!!!!!!
The essence of the PlayStation DNA is real change- Ahh... Genji 2 is an action game, which is based on Japanese history.
So here's this giant enemy crab. Attack his weakpoint, for massive damage.
I was about to say 13256278887989457651018865901401704640, but it appears this number is private property.
1. ps3 wasnt ready 12 months early... if it was, then they would have had time to do a soft emu of the ps2 in combination with hardware acccel wrappers. Instead the ps2
is there as 2 chips.
2. The bluray drive is over costed, its really cheaper than it seams if you count raw manufacturing cost alone, and bound to drop real fast as they ramp up the factories.
3. This is a long term venture, the ps3 will have a 2006 to 2015 life time. If bluray is not here now, its a missed boat because of hddvd competing. They need the numbers out there.
which I think will force Toshiba to give MS a massive discount or even loss on making the hddvd drive for the next xbox360 revision as standard. If its only $50 more costs, toshiba will wear it otherwise its got no chance.
4. japan apartments are tiny, they need a computer + game machine + media machine in one. Everyone hates 5 machines with 5 remotes. All it needs now are small usb-hdtv dongles to watch tv.
5. it runs linux, and if Sony had the balls, they would open the GPU to be used under linux to kick in more sales.
6. competition is good
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
The PS3 and the PSP are both exactly like Homer's Dream Car. They have all the stuff you could possibly want, but that just means that the end result is an ugly, overpriced, underperforming mess.
And I say that as a PSP owner, and as somebody who does definitely not want Microsoft to own even a small part of the console market.
Unfortunately for Sony, the console market is a sprint, not a marathon. Whoever sells the most consoles gets the most third-party support, which leads to more console sales, which leads to more support, and so on. There's a certain point where you simply can't catch up with the others anymore, and Sony is already getting close to that point.
I wonder why that might be. Slashdot readers, usually Microsoft haters of the highest degree, usually mocking Nintendo's kiddy games, suddenly switch sides and start complaining about Sony. Why in the world might something like this happen? Maybe because lots of peopel genuinely believe that Sony's PS3 is an overpriced, underperforming piece of shit? Maybe because it really does not - by far - sell as well as Sony thought?
I disagree. Consumers are looking for a Good value. Unfortunately the PS3 isn't one. It does not do enough of value to the average consumer to justify spending $600.
Where most of us just wouldn't buy a $600 console (or a $500 one for that matter).
That's a free second controller and a game....
Damn, you sound like my mom. A sale doesn't mean you save any money, it simply means you can (and will) buy more...
Allow me to clarify. Consumers are not looking primarily for good value. Of course, there are exceptions, but I believe this is the rule. And of the majority of consumers, many will look for good value, but it will not be their primary requirement.
Really, your statement agrees with mine, since you are talking about price. Price point is not the same as value.
Let me illustrate with an example. If the average consumer is shopping for a video card, he/she will first determine what kind of price range to shop in. The key, as I stated, is that it must meet their minimum requirements. In other words, they may decide that they need an SLI- or Crossfire-capable card as a minimum requirement. Then, the consumer looks at the available cards and, assuming no other requirements are there, will choose the lowest-price product. Actually, they will probably choose somewhere between the lowest price and their maximum price. At that point, if two products are the same price, value is compared (number of features per dollar equals value, or "This one does 30.7 fps on BF2142 with 4xAA, but that one does 39.2 fps"). And again, if there is a range of product choices between the lowest price and the consumer's maximum price, feature set will also come into play ("I can buy this basic one for $200, but I can afford up to $300 and there is one for $299 that includes a TV tuner"). This is really a variant of value, however.
In the case of the PS3, it is often simply a matter of price. The average consumer looks at the need, which is a game system, and determines what their requirements are. Good games? Wii - check. Xbox 360 - check. PS3 - check. Which one do you buy? Wii.
Good games AND ability to play hi-def movies? Wii - nope. Xbox 360 - check. PS3 - check. Which one do you buy? Xbox 360.
The only time value comes into play is if the price point for the consumer is $1000. Then they can consider all systems equally, and then value comes into play. Then, I would agree, the PS3 has less value than other systems.
But, getting back to your statement, I would say that the average consumer has a lower price point than what the PS3 is being offered at, or their requirements are already being met by lower-priced products. Thus, value isn't even a factor yet.
Value IS an issue. The fact that "their requirements are already being met by lower-priced products" means the "lower priced products" are (to the average consumer) a better value.
Your statement is only true if the consumer's price point is higher than the highest-priced product. Often the price point is exactly the same as the lowest-priced product, since the consumer's requirements are such that they actually want to pay less, but the lower-priced product does not exist. Thus, the only price they are willing to pay belongs to the product that costs them the least. Thus, value isn't even a factor, since the higher-priced products are not considered.
Value is only a factor when two more more products are considered and then compared. In this instance, the consumer is likely (IMHO) barely willing to pay what the cheaper Xbox 360 is being offered at, and so the PS3 isn't even considered. Now, if we're talking about gamers who have saved up to buy the next big thing and have a grand to blow, they may consider the PS3. Then, and only then, they will compare the value of the two products.
I'm certain we are debating semantics now.
Exactly! If price was the issue then for the price of a Wii, A consumer could also (reasonably) be in the market to buy a core X-Box 360 for only $50 more, OR they could buy the PS2, GameCube, Original X-Box, Nintendo DS, GBA or PSP. In fact for the price of the Wii, they could have a few of the afore mentioned.
So perceived Value is vitaly important.
In this instance, the consumer is likely (IMHO) barely willing to pay what the cheaper Xbox 360 is being offered at, and so the PS3 isn't even considered. Now, if we're talking about gamers who have saved up to buy the next big thing and have a grand to blow, they may consider the PS3. Then, and only then, they will compare the value of the two products.
I'm certain we are debating semantics now.
Probably. But let's flip the argument to the high end. Value is an issue since anyone considering buying a PS3 would naturally have enough money to buy any of the alternatives, and in this instance some (including myself) chose the 360 over the PS3 as it is a better value.
I agree, if someone has the cash to buy the most expensive item, then value comes into play. But that's a big "if."
I have been trying to postulate that the average consumer is not in the position that you are.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_ id=5303663
_ id=5303668
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product
Xbox 360 bundle (2 controllers, 2 games, 1 case) = $479
PS3 bundle (2 controllers, 2 games, 1 movie) = $696
Frankly, I think a spread of $217 (45% increase) puts the PS3 in a completely different category. Therefore, I believe the PS3 will sell less because it will have fewer consumers looking for a game system at that price point.
However, I could be wrong. Maybe the majority of consumers in the market for a movie-playing, next-gen, HD game system can afford either system.
To that I'll agree.
I believe the PS3 will sell less because it will have fewer consumers looking for a game system at that price point.
To that I'll agree whole heartedly.
I'll agree with the average consumer isn't even in the market for the PS3, however I would like to add that those who can afford the PS3 are also buying in fewer numbers as it is a poor value.