Looks like PS4 will be #1 for Black Friday

[Nate4Drake]

Madword said:

Nate4Drake said:

Madword said:

Nate4Drake said:

Madword said:
I think we are definitely getting mixed messages, but it does seem MS have brought the fight to Sony for November no doubt. It may be a few weeks before we find out if Sony's decision to not price cut will help them win the month or make it close or not. (I consider a small gap in favour of MS a win for Sony)

You know that Sony are in the position to look at sales and PROFIT most of all, Sony do not need aggressive price cuts. Winning also Nov is food for zealots, Sony don't care if zealots feel better if PS4 win every NPD every year.  They do care about great sales, and they are having great sales, and profit. Why Sony should beat MS at any cost in any NPD ? I'm not saying this to you, it's just general thinking.  In the Global PS4 is setting apart, and in NA is still ahead of XOne in the user base.  Never rush things, just do the right move at the right moment, what Sony are doing. 

I agree with your points.

If the gap in November is close to less than a few hundred k, then to be fair its a bit of a disaster for MS... they have dropped the price so much, and with it going back up in January, created a situation where people will think, you know what why bother buying between Jan-Oct because I know I can get one really cheap in November next year. It really could have a massive impact on their sales. Sony will just increase the gap significantly Jan-oct and stay close to MS in Nov/Dec, then Sony will continue to extend that gap.

That's exactly the point !  These so aggressive Fire sales in Nov/Dec are a double edged sword. You gain  for the high season, but once price is back to standard, you will be outsold for 10 months in NA(Jan-Oct), and then the same will happen in Nov/Dec 2015; but now most of casual gamers know about this MS strategy, it will be even worst in these 10 months. Just my opinion. And if you also look at the PS4 line up in 2015, you understand me :)

In previous years (ps3) Sony's problem was they were only over selling by a small amount and by the time December came along Ms made up alot of the ground, this time the gap between Jan - Sept has been very significant for PS4..

There is a lot of anecdotal stuff saving 2:1 sales for XBO over the last few days, so the gap could be significant in November..... who knows.

It's fascinating stuff...

The problem of PS3 before the Slim release was the high price, really too much higher compared to 360. Also PS3 came out 1 full year later in NA and Japan, and 16 months later in Europe. 360 got a stronger line-up, more games, better multiplatform games, and developers got almost immediately used with the MS machine, while it was a nightmare with PS3, with its way more complex architecture and less balanced.  All was against PS3, and Sony had to reinvent PS3 with the Slim Model to compete with Wii and 360.  Also, the playstation PR and management Team was less efficient than the current one, and basicly PS3 was getting smashed by 360 every Nov and Dec NPD, like Sony almost didn't care at all, but just happy for the very good sales in Europe. 

The 360 had gained the faith of all, and had established a dominance in NA, with a PS3 who seemed unable to react.

Now the situation is so different, so many things changed, and now MS is the one who have to invent strategies to compete with Sony in their own territory.