The future of PS3 SKUs/ pricecuts, my predictions.

[davygee]

bbsin said:
I just have an extremely hard time believing Sony is going to cut the price of the PS3 100 USD PER YEAR. If that were to happen, that would mean Sony would be doing an awful job releasing software or adding any sort of value towards the PS3 I surely hope they don't end up cutting prices by 100 dollars a year just to keep up with the market. A system does not have to be 250 dollars or less to be successful.

I'm pretty sure I read an article stating that $199 was the magic number in console pricing and this is the number that will push people into buying a certain system.

In all lines of technology, prices are now falling by at least $100 per year...it just so happens that the companies generally come out with better specced models for roughly the same price.

$499 is still a high price for a home console (Blu-Ray or not) and I cannot see Sony retaining a $499 price tag for much longer than the start of next year.

Yes, it may seem quite ridiculous, but IMHO Sony need to continually reduce the cost of the PS3 over the next 2-3 years.

Look at the pricing of the PS2 over it's lifetime so far.

October 2000
$299.99

May 2002
$199.99

May 2003
$179.99

May 2004
$149.99

April 2006
$129.99

The PS2 dropped 33% 18 months after release followed by an additional 10% 12 months later then followed by a further 20% drop 12 months later still.

If we applied the same theory to the PS3 it would look like this:

November 2006
$599.99

June 2008
$399.99

June 2009
$359.99

June 2010
$299.99

So comparing the consoles, my predictions weren't that far off.  The thing as well is this.  The PS3 has already seen a pricecut 8 months after release and because the cost retail cost of the PS3 is double that of the PS2, I reckon that hardware production costs could quite easily come down quicker and by more than what happened with the PS2.  Remember, the PS2 eventually only saw smaller reductions, because it was well below the $199 casual barrier.