endimion said:
albionus said:
The PS3's biggest problem in Europe is going to be its price. European countries range from a little below the US and Japan in disposable income to a lot below the US and Japan while the PS3 is much more expensive than the PS2. An average US worker would have to work around 4-5 days to buy a PS3 but an average UK/German worker 8-9 days and a Portugese/Greek worker would have to do 14-15 days of work to buy a PS3. That's going to limit the potential market in continental Europe to a lot less than the PS2 (who at launch had workdays required to buy of roughly US-3, UK-6, Port.-9). |
hum the big problem of the european market is not their income.... they earn more money than most people in the world if you convert the euro in any other currency..... the problem is the cost of life over there it's crazy high compare to US (I don't think japan is under but still) I mean look at the most expensive city in the world 80% of them are in europe new york is not even in the top 10 anymore.... we have a serious tax problem and everything is going up way to fast.... you have to realize that if you want to buy a 600€ PS it's like if you had to buy a 780$ PS in US.... and that's mostly due to tax and other indirect fees from social security etc etc.... put the PS at 461€ like it should be and you have sales going up..... of course i'm talking about european countries like france UK germany, spain italy etc.... I mean the one doing the core of europe right now.... what you are saying is evident for countries like the eastern ones and other which still have to complete their integration.... but is like if you were comparing NA with SA.... |
What I did was compared the PPP which eliminated exchange rates and compares costs. The average US income is $44k compared to richer western Europe- $30-32k and poorer western europe- $20k. Factor in higher taxes and a more expensive PS3 and you get the greater amount of work required for Europeans to buy a PS3. I'm aware of all the factors you mentioned which is why I said disposable income. Disposable income accounts for differring costs, taxes, and such. I'm certain I'm not 100% on the spot since my calculations were simple but the general point is the same.
