So, we have an official unboxing of the slim PS4, in which we can see anything and everything Sony has done to reduce the size, and consequently, it's price.
To be as brief as I can, I think the slim will launch at $199, and yes, I am aware that is a $150 price reduction from the current model. Many people, and rightfully so, have high doubts sony will reduce the price to $250, let alone $199, but I have my reasons for predicting that price, and I will list them below
1. PS4 price remains at $350 - this, to me, is obviously due to the fact that Sony has been able to sell well over 40 million PS4's sold at $350 or higher, outpacing the PS3 2:1 and remaining above the PS2 at that price, so dropping the price wouldn't make sense financially due to the high demand. So what I'm getting at, is the PS4 probably would have been $299 by now had the demand for the console not been so high even at it's price point, and it was $299 for the 2015 holiday season for a few weeks
2. Comments from Sony earlier on in the generation, alluding to the design of the PS4 and how it was made with price reduction in mind
3. Sony's comments on how they're aiming to compete with their own best selling console, the PS2 in terms of lifetime sales. What better way to compete with the PS2 than to make a cheap as fuck console that is so affordable that a lot of people already want, and many people will not say no to especially in time for the holiday season that is growing more prominent every year
4. What we already know about the slim: Clearly cheaper plastic, no LED bar, shorter in terms of height, smaller in terms of width, no optical port, much less plastic overall
5. The focus or core services: PS Plus has been making Sony a lot of money, in fact it's most recent quarter was amazing, with network sales raking in the dollas for Sony, so since it's clear that there is big bucks to be made in services such as PS Plus, PS Vue, and whatever else, it would be ideal to have as many people invested in the platform as possible so maximum dollas will be made on those core services. So again, release a cheap as fuck console that a lot of people already want anyway for a killer, undeniably good price in time for the holidays and boom, insane profit and record breaking revenue from their rapidly growing network
6. Recent PS Plus price increase - Now this one might be a stretch but I'm convinced, due to the lack of solid reasoning, that Sony increased the price of PS plus by $10 so that the slim can be sold at $199, and still be either profitable or break even at worst.
Now some quick sales predictions
September NPD: 400k+
October NPD: 300k+
November NPD: 1.8m+
December NPD: 2m+
So, what is your guess for the PS4 slim's launch price?
