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Barkley on 10 December 2019
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TruckOSaurus said:
Barkley said:

I don't agree with that at all, permanent price cuts seems to be exactly what affects how well a system does with a successor. After all, who would buy a $269 PS3 when they could get a $399 PS4? The price difference wasn't enough for the PS3 to keep selling.

PS1 shipped another 29m units after the PS2 launched, it's last price cut was to $49 in May 2002.

PS2 shipped another 48m units after the PS3 launched, it's last price cut was to $99 in April 2009.

PS3 shipped just 7m units after the PS4 launched, it's last price cut was to $269 when the super slim launched in September 2012.

PS3 price didn't go low enough and didn't get a cut after the PS4 and thus it had terrible legs post-successor compared to previous PlayStation systems.

A PS4 that gets an official cut to $199 will sell a LOT more after the PS5 is released, then a $299 PS4 will.

But it's not only due to price point. PS2 sold a lot post-PS3 launch because Sony messed up big time with the PS3 launch. PS3 sold less post-PS4 launch because Sony got everything right with the PS4 launch.

Yes that's true, it's not just price point and the relative performance of the PS3 would have helped PS2 as well as hinder it's own legs, but price clearly plays a big role. If the price difference between the last-gen and next-gen system is too low, people aren't going to bother picking up the older console over the newer one. The only reason to get the older console is to save money. In the case of the PS3 the last official RRP of $269 vs $399 just wasn't enough of a saving for the system to keep selling.

So the PS4 getting an official price cut in the future to $199 or even $149 would vastly help it's performance post-ps5. $199 vs $499 is enough of a difference for people to still pick up a PS4.