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Forums - Sony Discussion - Should Sony have cut the PS3's price last year?

 

Was it worth it?

Yes 39 43.33%
 
No 51 56.67%
 
Total:90
Jay520 on 30 June 2012

Should Sony have cut the PS3's price from $299 to $249 last year?


Some things to consider.

The PS3 outsold its HD competitor, the Xbox 360, by about 300k units last year.

The PS3 is currently outselling the Xbox 360 by about 1.1m for 2012 right now.


Now was it all worth it? Sony gave up $50 of profit per ps3 but was it really worth it for them? Was it worth beating the X360 last year by a mere 300k units? Or should Sony have just let the 360 beat it? Also, for the first half of 2012, the ps3 is outselling the 360 by about 1m units. Would this have happened even without the price cut?

discuss



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IIIIITHE1IIIII on 30 June 2012

I don't know. Maybe the low price makes the Vita look too expensive in comparison? On top of that there's a lot more to consider. Even if cutting the price meant $50 less per console it also meant (a lot?) more consoles plus software sold.

I vote "yes".


Andrespetmonkey on 30 June 2012

Not at all, it's outselling the competition right now, and has been for quite some time. Sony could do with the profit. However a price cut will be needed this holiday if the 360 gets a cut this year.



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Jay520 on 30 June 2012

I think Sony should have waited a year or two before cutting the price. A $50 cut didn't increase sales much but I'm sure it affected Sony's profits quite a bit. Id imagine they're very close to just breaking even now. They could have waited a year or two & racked in a lot more profit. And then maybe 2012 or 2013 they could have had a bigger price cut like $70-$100 which would have had a much bigger impact than $50 did imo.



Kynes on 30 June 2012

Some of us said it last year, that the yen exchange ratio, and Sony financial numbers weren't against this decision. Now the numbers show that we were right, and the lower selling price wasn't a great decision.

You can read lots of Sony fans that want another price cut for this late summer/autumn. Sometimes I just think that some Sony fans are destroying Sony, pushing for more and more price cuts, better and costlier consoles... and they don't think in the monetary implications. It's like politics, most people want more spending, or the same spending with lower taxes, without thinking that's the way huge debts are created.

A quick math: 50 US$ and ~14 million consoles give you 700 million US$ less since the price cut. Sony would love to have that money in their pockets.



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TheShape31 on 30 June 2012

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes, they should have.



Jay520 on 30 June 2012
IIIIITHE1IIIII said:

I don't know. Maybe the low price makes the Vita look too expensive in comparison? On top of that there's a lot more to consider. Even if cutting the price meant $50 less per console it also meant (a lot?) more consoles plus software sold.

I vote "yes".


I wouldn't say a lot more. I don't have the data to prove it, but this time last year, the ps360 gap was similar to know. If my.memory is correct of course.

Jay520 on 30 June 2012
Bristow9091 said:
I think it was a good idea and beneficial to them, I mean sure they're not making as much money per console, but once someone buys a PS3, they're also going to be buying games, maybe more controllers or a Move controller and other peripherals etc. and possibly subscribe to Playstation+. All these possibilities will surely net Sony more than $50 profit from one customer, although on the flipside, they could have bought a PS3 for $50 more and STILL got everything I mentioned, so Sony would still be making $50 more than they are now regardless, however, I think seeing the console at a cheaper price pushes more people to finally take the dive and buy it (Which is what we're seeing with higher sales numbers), so yeah I definitely think they've benefited more from the price cut.


yes, but you have to assume those people will spend an extra $50. With the ps3 being $50 more expensive, you can guarantee that every customer will spend the extra $50. Also, I don't think the price cut really drove sales that much considering ps3 vs 360 sales this year isn't much different than last year.

Jay520 on 30 June 2012
TheShape31 said:
Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes, they should have.


care to elaborate.

AndrewWK on 30 June 2012

They cut the price and outsold the XBox, maybe they would anyway but we don´t know for certain. I think it was a good move.