PS3 and Japan?

[NJ5]

Two comments before I give my opinion about your questions:

1- 15k is the current level, which might still be affected by MGS4. We need to wait a few more weeks to see if it stabilizes there, or down to ~10k as before.

2- I don't think 15k a week qualifies as OK. It means less than a million a year, the PS3 is tracking along with the Gamecube (but above the Dreamcast).

Having said that, here are my comments on your items:

1- A slim redesign would provide a temporary boost for sure, since changes in hardware always make some people rebuy their consoles and sell/give away their used ones. A permanent boost is uncertain, but possible. I have no idea how big it could be though. It depends on when it happens and whether the PS3 is selling better by then or not.

2- See 1.

3- There were plenty of price cuts already, which didn't improve PS3 sales in the long run. Price doesn't seem to be the issue.

4- This is the wild card, and IMO the only thing which could save the PS3 in Japan and make it an accepted console there. If it boosts hardware to 50k for a while, it will be a fantastic result, although by that point the Wii will already be entrenched as the de facto Japanese console. In this case, it will be a somewhat similar situation to DS/PSP, in which the PSP is winning in hardware weekly sales now, but software support is much stronger for the DS.