Some people on here that Sony may cut the PS3's price to $199 this year. Some people believe they'll cut it to $249 this year. And some believe that they won't cut the price at all this year. The people proposing that Sony WON'T cut the price to $199 believe that Sony wants to make profits. But is PS3's profit Sony's main goal? Take a look at this chart

[see chart below or click link]

All Credit goes to Seece for posting the chart in this thread. Thanks dude

So, as you can see from last gen, Sony made profit, but they could have much more had they not cut the price of the PS2 so aggressively. Why did they cut they price so much if they were dominating the competition?

I say they did it to A) bury the competetion obviously, and B) to get as many PS2s into peoples homes to help get DVD Players into as many people's homes as possible, similar to how the PS1 was used to get CD Players into as many homes as possible. I believe that Sony was more concerned with market share than profits. They seem to use the playstation hardware to help promote bigger things such as DVDs, CDs, Blu Ray, etc, many times at the cost of direct profit from the hardware.

Well, I believe that Sony MAY cut the price of the PS3 this year to $199 to help promote their massive 3D campaign AND Blu Ray market Share. Also, Playsation is NOT dominating like the previous two gens. In fact, it's in a far 3rd in NA (nearest competitor over 10m away), a far 2nd in EMEAA (with X360 not too far behind), and a far 2nd in Japan (Wii nearly double PS3's numbers). This gives Sony even more of a reason to make aggressive cuts. Sure the PS3 is winning weekly now, but how much will these small victories last when the holiday kicks in and starts losing (maybe). I don't think Sony wants to lose another holiday. They have a pretty good lineup set up this holiday (probably their best ever), now they just need the price cut to put it all together.

And then there's the NGP releasing this year. I doubt that the NGP would release it making a profit, but if it did, then it could lessen the damage that a price cut would make.

So, I believe that there is a possibility that Sony is willing to drop the price (to $199) this year, face the "short term pain", get more ps3's in homes, and reap the greater benefits of their 3D, Blu Ray Divisions or whatever. They dropped the price when the PS2 was dominating. Although they didn't drop the price below profit margins, Sony is in a much worse situation than last gen. The PS3 is in 3rd place, and they're trying to promote 3D AND Blu Ray. Times are definitely more drastic.

I personally believe that Sony will drop the PS3 to $249 this year. But there's still a chance they'll go for $199. I think it depends on how badly Sony wants to mainstream 3D and how much would they lose by dropping to $199.

@The blue bars: O_o

OT: Are these profits for just hardware or overall? cuz if this chart is just for hardware profits, then they could cut price and still make some money on games

@Jay520's comment below: I can see it (Chrome)

EDIT: It's gone now XD - - - also, it's not working on IE either

here

Here's the chart. It's not showing up in OP.

EDIT: Won't show up here either.

Can you see the chart in the OP? I can't.

A cut to $199 would definitely help the PS3 crush the Wii and remain atop in HW sales  from now until November 2012.

Isn't Sony facing enough short term pain already?

Thats a very nice and interesting chart there. That said i personally dont think Sony will Cut the PS3 to $199 or $249 unless they start seeing a huge drop in sales or if Nintendo/Microsoft make a big price cut.

A few other reasons why i dont think they will not lower the Price is because of the NGP and it possibly be priced at around $300-$350. Would not make much sense for sony to drop the Price for the PS3 and have a handheld that almost double the price. And the fact that despite being in 3rd(last place) The PS3 has recieved the Most first/third party support of games out of the other 2 consoles.

So no i dont think a price drop would be a smart move for them financially. I do however expect to see some heavy marketing campigns to promte both the Move, NGP, and the PS3's software and its potential. :)

Would be incredible. It  will probably not be announced until gamescom though

@miz

thanks for posting the chart. I believe it's the entire gaming division. You can check the thread or ask Seece for clarity.

My Computer just crash and I'm posting from my phone. I can't reply to most of you.

@The Ps3News
I never though of that. I'll check the Ps2's price when the PSP launched.

lets look at it 3 ways.

if they don't they can kind of sale more then the comp like they are now before Wii2 comes out.

if they drop to $249.99 that leaves them some flexibility in pricing in the long run while still competting with MS with a boost in harware sales they may keep them ahead even if MS drops price to.

if Sony drops PS3 price to $199.99 i'll shoot myself for not waiting! it also puts Sony out fo range of comp and puts MS in a chase position when it comes to price cause sonys price will always be lower.

that said this pice point would only be good if theres only 1 SKU with a 250-400g harddrive.