You might remember that a couple months after the PS3 launch, the price in Canada was actually increased from $650 to $699. The reason behind this was understandable - the price point had been decided earlier in 2006 when the Canadian dollar was stronger, and it having dropped back by the time of the PS3 launch, Canadians were actually getting the system for cheaper than their American counterparts. The bump up to $700 brought the Canadian price more in line with the US one. Still, to see the already ludicrously expensive console actually go even higher in price felt like a slap in the face, and it was another rock on the ever-mounting pile of bad publicity surrounding the PS3.
This week, the Canadian dollar rebounded to a 30-year high of around 92 cents US. At the new exchange rate, the 599 USD PS3 should cost right around $650 CAN again. In other words, based on the movements of the economy, Canadian consumers have gone from getting a relative bargain on the PS3, to spending eye-to-eye with the USA, to now officially getting a raw deal. Nothing like the Europeans are getting, of course, but it's happening. So what do you think, is the price going to be bumped back down to where it was?
Yeah, ok, I kind of doubt it. They're not likely to give up those extra dollars now that the PS3 has been accepted (in a sense...) at this price. But where I see a light at the end of the tunnel is at the seemingly inevitable global price drop later this year. Sony (I would hope) will reassess their MSRP's at this time to put them in line with current exchange rates. If the CAN dollar holds roughly where it is until then, that would mean a 100 USD price drop would bring the Canadian price down to around $550. For me, that's beginning to creep into the "maybe-possibly-think-about-buying" range.
It still seems like a lot, but it should be put into perspective. A 200 USD price drop is where things really start to get interesting, I think. (I know it looks very unlikely as a first price drop right now, but it's not so far-fetched as it sounds. Remember that a 1/3 reduction has been the standard for a first price drop for most consoles in the past - and god knows Sony needs it right now). A 399 USD PS3 would, ideally, retail in Canada for $450 or less - that's the price the PS2 was at the same point in its life. The reason for this somewhat surprising matchup is that in 2000 when the PS2 launched, the Canadian dollar was hovering around a fairly pitiful 66 cents US. We paid the same for a 299 USD system then as we would for a 399 USD system today. And these figures don't even take inflation into account - where I live, minimum wage has gone up something like 20% in the interim, and who knows how other costs have changed. In other words, as ugly as things look right now, before long the PS3 could very well be more affordable than a PS2 was in this country. Even a 100 USD price drop (to $550 CAN) might be enough to push the scale in favor of the PS3 over the PS2.
For an idea of just how much the exchange rate has affected things: you think a $700 console is ridiculous? It would have been $900 under the 2000 rates. I know a stronger dollar is a double-edged sword, but man, as an electronics consumer I'm in heaven.
Just some thoughts I wanted to share with the Canadians of this board and anyone from other countries who happens to be interested.
