It has to be 249$.
Would be a mistake to price it at 299$.

Why do you think that? Just curious!

Xbox one S - cheapest UHD player, same price, same harddisk space, free game....

Because they cut all the fat they could when they made this console, going all out on saveings.

Judgeing on what we ve seen so far. The lack of Ultra HD Blu-ray drive, and HDR,... it has to have saved them a pretty penny compaired to Xbox one slim.

If MS can sell their slim at 299$ and profit off it, Im pretty sure Sony can sell their slim (which looks cheaper to make) at 249$.

The extra game sales & servies (ps plus , ps vue, ps now) will generate more profits the more units they can sell.

The price & power advantage worked well for them at launch, when the PS4 was more powerfull and 100$ cheaper than the Xbox One.

Its time a repeat, with Slim vs Slim.

I dont think MS has a answear, because they choose to enhance their Xbox One with their slim, instead of aiming for really low price ranges.

Basically this unit can probably be sold at lower prices and still make profits than the Xbox One slim can, if MS follow in price, they ll be eating losses.

And yet the PS4 quite confortably outsold the Xbox One priced $50 more. Why does it need to be $50 cheaper? The Xbox One S being able to play 4k is nice but overstated. PS4 Slim will have it's bundles for the holiday.

I agree with JRPGfan, if they price it at $299,- with no game, they will have a hard time marketing it. If they price it at $249,- they will be the cheapest (again) console and still have the "more powerfull" hardware then the Xbox one S game-wise and people will not care that there is no game included.

Its the same strategy that worked well. If they price it at $299,- I think they will lose in the USA (Obviously in Europe and Japan it will sell no matter how they price it)

Also a thing to keep in mind, people will buy this AND buy the VR headset which also makes them a profit, with the price range of the console on $249 and the headset at $400, that will convince many people to try out playstation VR, again, to their profit.

The price entirely depends on the remaining PS4 stock.

You cannot sell a new box for $249 if you still have tons of old $349 PS4s lying around in shops.

Maybe $249 in December when the old stock is gone. Sony is not MS who firesales its old stock with huge losses.

This^

It needs to be cheaper if it offers less things.  By things I mean the 4k UHD HDR buzzwords people see and or hear when buying their entertainment systems.

i know it hasn't needed to up to this point but these buzz words are a slight advantage plus the xbox one s comes with a free game and in some cases more than 1.  I saw a deal on new egg I think it was that came with 4 free games with an xbox one s.  MS will get games and gift card crazy again this holiday season.

My take:

If it plays 4K then mininum $299

If it's a regular PS4 then $249

They definitely can go $249 and make a good profit but they don't need to. $299 means they have plenty of room to drop for holiday deals and more room for strategic price cuts in the future to increase or maintain healthy sales. Although a lower price means more hardware sales which leads to more PS+ subs and software sales, it doesn't mean that's the best route to go for profit.

Sony will have weighed up different price points to see if more PS+ subs and profit from software will outweigh the loss in profit from hardware in the long term. Personally I think the Slim and a $50 reduction will see them the best profit and leave them with a chance for more/bigger strategic price cuts in the future.