Open Plea: Sony, please drop the PS3’s price, the industry needs it

[Millennium]

Notorius.A.i.G said:
Im not sure about this but don't PS3 slims decrease production costs?

It depends on exactly how they build it. In the current climate it wouldn't make much sense for them to release a Slim that was more expensive to produce, but theoretically they could do itif they really wanted to. It's a pretty safe bet, though, that when and if the PS3Slim materializes, it will cost less to produce than the current PS3.

That said, how much will it decrease production costs? That's harder to say. They probably won't release a Slim at all unless it at least lets them make at least a little money at the current price point: they have to stop the bleeding, and a Slim is their best chance at doing so. If they have some major breakthrough which will let them make a significant money and cut the price at the same time, then they might do that.

They might instead pocket all of the savings, keep the price where it is right now, and make even more money per unit. That wouldn't be very good PR, but Sony seems to have considered that to be a secondary concern for quite some time now. There's some grumbling over the PS3's price point, but gamers have yet to actually revolt against it, so they may try to ride the wave as long as they can and get some extra (badly needed) cash.