Squilliam said:
I believe you're wrong. The Xbox 360 is also suffering under the same conditions. So whilst there may be a substitution effect going on, its not as significant as you might think as the European market, like the Asian markets aren't as debt reliant/laden as the American market. This is the area where the Xbox 360 has seen its greater relative gains. In the American market for this to hold true you would expect the effect to be far greater as the Xbox 360 is seen in higher regard over there and the PS3 is just as relatively expensive as in the European markets and the effects of the economic crisis are hitting much harder.
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I bet you're not surprised when I disagree with your disagreement!
Right now I believe general shoppers see 360/PS3 as interchangeable, while in the US it is seen as the more common choice, while in Others I believe Sony are really seeing the brand slide as there is nothing tangible to differentiate it currently from MS and 360.
I watched some shoppers recently as part of some store visits around UK and Europe, and they looked at the 360 games shelves, the PS3 game shelves, saw essentially the same titles (COD:WAW, Dead Space, etc.) then looked at console prices and picked up 360.
The 360 is seeing a massive swing on price due to the economy in my opinion, one that is doubly troubling for PS3 as it also pushes down upswing of the console.
In a recession if you have two items most purchasers see as the same (because let's face it we're probably past the point where the fanboys or anyone already biased to one or the other has long made their purchase) then the lower price option sees a big boost while the other loses.
Until the recession I would never have given 360 a chance at breaking out of hardcore to more general purchasers, but they have a chance now. It's luck, but if MS are quick they could really convert current trends into a bit of a breakout from their core demographic.
Try to be reasonable... its easier than you think...