Sega: Sony likely needs substantial PS3 price cut

[TheBigFatJ]

davygee said:

Bodhesatva said:

Or maybe the Japanese simply don't care very much about the console. Honestly, the PS3 is out of spare lives in Japan: it's lowered its price (Which was already lower than the US price), Japan has a solid HDTV adoption rate (Japan has the highest in the world), it's had major Japan-centric title released (Gundam Musou and now Folk Soul), and it faces much weaker competition from the 360 in Japan than it does in the US/Europe (where both the 360 AND the Wii are beating it), and yet the system just can't gain any traction.

At some point you have to stop looking for excuses and simply say that the system isn't doing well in Japan. The launch gate has closed, all of the maneuvering has been tried, but the PS3 just keeps falling farther and farther behind.

You can't just disregard the price of the system as being it's problem....of course it's a huge problem of the PS3.

The PS3 although cheap in Japan at around $400 is still double the cost of the Wii which is around $200.

The price isn't an excuse...it's primarily the reason IMHO. And this is why Nintendo are running away with all the gold. The PS3 isn't just expensive...it's ridiculously expensive in all 3 markets. Although if a PS3 was priced around $400 in the UK...they WOULD be sold out, seeing as that makes in come in at not much over £200...it is currently double this in the UK.

 

Oh? There were stores selling it for just over $300 in Japan and few bought it. Some Americans were importing it from Japan because it was so cheap.

 

Getting the PS3 below that £400 mark would be a big barrier breaker, so £350 could do wonders. 

I've seen sales for a PS3 + motorstorm for £375.  Sony seems to be experimenting to discover how people will respond at various price points and it seems as though smaller price drops won't sell it, and in Japan it's hard to see it selling all that well at any reasonable price point since it didn't sell very well just over $300.