I would say discontinue the 3G model, but a 3G Vita bundled with a 8gb card and maybe Uncharted for $249 would be nice too.

Early price cut method ala 3DS is a terrible business move for a company's credibility. It didn't do Nintendo any favors despite the high sales of the 3DS afterwords. It would especially look bad for Sony right now. There are a variety of ways they can encourage sales without drastic measures. Holiday bundles, 4GB bundles (to aid phase out), PR moves with big software releases. Dropping the Vita's price right now will remove Sony's ability to leverage a price drop in the future. A price drop would cause Vita to start selling at a loss, it is too early for manufacturing costs to shrink, which is one main deciding factor in dropping price. The only region that might receive a price drop early would be Japan since they are paying more than the rest of the world. North America has the cheapest price point right now and will be the last to recieve a price drop, or will recieve one if price drops are alligned globally. The earliest we will see a price cut on the Vita will most likely be between E3 2013 and holiday 2013.

EDIT: Though I could see a 2013 March price cut if they feel they need to early, and if sales return to lows after the holidays. They could leverage a price cut during the slower months to boost sales of a Sony IP.

That's a very likely bundle we'll see this year, except it will probably be $299. They might have other bundles too, or a dual game bundle with a 4gb card.

I see what you mean. But that's why I said they would need to keep the price point of $199 for atleast 3 years (Even Microsoft has kept the 360's price for years now). That would include a slim Vita. It would be a safer gamble to get it's install base healthy in it's earlier years than later. (Imo)

Slim Vita? How's that possible? The sytem's size is determined by it's screen and its not very thick. Sure there is some internal room to eliminate but that could create heating problems, which is very nicely avoided right now. If you are just trying to refer to manufactering cuts they would probably just put the smaller pieces inside and a larger battery but keep the case the same. The case isn't getting any cheaper so a redesign might not be the best path. The Vita is essentially a practiced design since the PSP has already had several redesigns.

I think we'll see a price cut earlier than that.  I'm guessing in time for the holiday season this year.  That would still make the Vita roughly a year old in Japan and around 10 months old in the other regions of the world, which would be staying at launch price much longer than Nintendo's 4 month price cut announcement.  It will not only make them look better, but also give them a really nice boost for the holidays.

Nice post Chark. I fully agree with your opinions on this.

People calling for a price cut now are not thinking long term. Sony needs to ride the storm out for now...and then push sales by offering great bundles, and most of all offering software that makes people want to buy the system irrespective of its price.

I say Sony should delay a price cut for as long as possible. Same applies for the PS3 at the moment. No price cut needed this year, just a good bundle or two.

I actually dont even think a price cut will solve the VITA problem, so they could end up in worse situation than they are already in. That is, loosing more money on each console sold (or making less profit) and selling at similar sales levels like they are now. You right when you say Nintendo made this mistake, they cut the price of the 3DS waaay to quickly...sales were bound to pick up once the big hitters started releasing.They might have even turned a profit this last financial year had they not cut the price.

When I said slim Vita, i meant a redisgn in the future. And yes, it's possible to make a redesign. That doesn't mean it will keep the same screen size, it can get bigger or smaller, and even a thinner body. I didn't assume it would stay the same. Anyway, I believe the mp is currently 45nm and it will go down to 32nm soon bringing cost down, less heat and energy usage, battery improvement (smaller, more efficient).

I'll be very surprised if SCE drops price this year.

People seem to be forgetting that the real reason why Nintendo dropped price so quickly is because 3DS sales fell extremely short of their initial projections.

Sony was far more conservative in their projections to the point where it almost seemed like they had next to no ambition or expectations for a platform that had been in R&D for over 4 years. As a result, the PSV is more or less selling in line with Sony's conservative projections.

What the platform needs is hardware selling A games, not a price cut.

Personally, I'd like to see memory cards bundled with every SKU, even if it's the bare minimum 4GB and more reasonable pricing for memory cards all around because it's not the PSV itself that's overpriced.

And yes, there's plenty of space for hardware revisions, particularly with regards to smaller die sizes which would reduce power consumption and heat, both of which are conducive to smaller device designs.

Even with the same 5" screen size, which I've already come to prefer over anything smaller, the bezel could be made thinner without having to squeeze the controls any closer (IMO, already at minimum clearances), and it could be made considerably thinner once the SoC generates less heat and a slimmer battery can be used.