| Viper1 said: Markets/consumers decide how long a console stays on the market. Sony was able to keep the PS and PS2 on the market long after the successor because the market still had a large demand for them. The PS3 doesn't have the demand those 2 did. And it won't sell for another 6-7 years. The PS4 is too well priced and well received for PS3 to have demand for that many more years. As for China, don't put any bets on it. They are very mobile centric and the rules still applied toward consoles are incredibly restrictive. Sony are better off trying to get the PS4 going there than the PS3. Can it hit 100 million? Maybe, but it's far from a sure thing. |
PS4 well priced? I can buy one in Brazil for just US$ 2000. Other regions of South America may even have it for just US$ 1000. It is more expensive than an iPad (US$ 800) or a pretty high-end ultrabook with a Core i7 and dedicated GPU (US$ 1200).
In general, taxes are higher on consoles than in other devices because they aren't a basic need, so a lot of the price differences we see in the US can shift in these markets. PS2 had demand here until 2010. Do you think anyone in emerging markets bought it because they prefer it instead of a PS3? I bought my PS2 in 2009 and believe me, if I could get a PS3 instead I wouldn't even had thinked about it (fortunately, I got a PS3 2 years after it).
Besides that, they will surelly come for these markets like crazy. Looking at Brazil during PS2 era, piracy was rampant and the economy was terrible. With PS3, there is almost zero piracy and now the economy is superb. These things are on shelves of all stores with piles of games. Sony is doing some heavy investments here, with the Ayrton Senna content in GT6, PS Plus and the cheaper exclusive games (launched at US$ 60 instead of the normal US$ 90). PS360 here costs around US$ 400. The magical number for emerging markets is on less than US$ 200.
