Ok lets look at the last couple of years:
1. Xmas being touted as the most important time of the year for console sales (according to MS)
2. MS being totally open to reducing their console significantly at Xmas to get sales. Upto $100 when taking into account store credit etc.
Now based on the fact that Sony cannot afford to get into a price war, consider they have created a slim which will most likely give them more profit, by not including a drive says even more money. It's stupid to think a company is milking it because they want to make a profit and not a loss, and money wise they cannot compete with MS in the price reductions.
So imho Sony are making sure they have enough wiggle room to fight MS at Xmas with price cuts/bundles and give them the chance of reducing the price overall quicker if they need to. This reminds me of the XB360 and PS3 battle, Sony had very little room to reduce the price because the components were expensive, now I see the exact opposite.
Making an indie game : Dead of Day!
