| Robert_Downey_Jr. said I don't think $50 would be worth it. That's not as psychologically as big a deal as getting under $200 and into that more impulse buy territory. |
All these numbers are "clean" figures that are normal marketing targets, but this is in US dollars, and fair to consider that a large portion of potential market for these lastgen consoles at this point will not be in US itself, but in poorer countries whose local currency will not convert "cleanly". Further, the relative buying power there is such that even these lower priced lastgen consoles are not necessarily in "impulse buy territory" for vast majority of consumers there (even if that is how it might be perceived in US). I agree dropping the prices (as Sony originally publicized it's aim to) would further strengthen the platform. Customers picking these up now probably will not yield as much total profits as those ready to jump into nextgen, but that isn't to say PS4 can't still provide online service revenue. Probably just as important strategically, is not just the direct profit per customer (as long as that is neutral or positive), but them growing the community so their friends will tend to have one more reason to engage with platform.
A serious price drop would be accompanied by re-engineering for lower costs, but I here I question if they would or should continue both SKUs (base and Pro), seems too complicated and perhaps not justifying the doubled engineering/logistics effort for what probably isn't going to be huge revenue. Dropping Pro in favor of maximally low price base PS4 would target that lowest price point best, but I think the other way around has stuff in it's favor too. If it's slightly more expensive, well those customers interested in it will tend to spend more too. It would tend to make a better comparison VS MS' 1080p model, in fact even allowing (semi) 4K +HDR output that makes comparison a mixed bag in ways. I'm not slagging on Series S, but that seems reasonable low-engagement consumer perception... "OK it's technically lastgen but can do 4K HDR and is the Pro model" makes them feel they aren't getting bad product. If they went ahead with discless/all-digital Pro Slim that would cut out more costs (including power supply for drive) and they should be able to have competitive offer VS Series S. Digital distro also faciliates agile price targetting that can maximize sales per country/region (as many media have lower prices in poorer regions). There is argument to keep discs for the "presence" physical distribution entails, but realistically that is not the way the wind is blowing.
Last edited by mutantsushi - on 20 September 2020
