Here's the thing; based upon the numbers that were posted after the price drop, it looks like the PS3 saw nominal benefits in terms of total number of hardware units moved.

In other words, it looks like dropping $50 of potential profit per unit didn't result in shifting a significantly larger number of units.

But, consider what type of numbers the PS3 would have posted had the entry price remained $299. I believe the decision was less about being able to claim they sold more units than the Xbox and more about cutting off drastic drops in sales YoY that may well have happened at the higher price point.

As for whether they should have, on one hand you could have an extra $50 per unit of profit, but while selling XXX fewer numbers, giving the impression that the platform has run out of momentum. On the other, you surrender those profits, but maintain higher sales keeping the momentum going.

Ideally, any significant price drop would have been accompanied by a visible redesign giving the updated model a marketing point for repeat sales from previous customers while simultaneously opening up the product to lower price point conscious consumers.

I'm assuming the price drop was accompanied by internal hardware changes resulting in slightly cheaper per unit production costs, but doubtful they were enough to offset a $50 drop in retail price.

There is a point at which a complete overhaul design is necessary to significantly reset the bar for lower per unit production costs and I think the current PS3 model has hit that point.

He's been pissing me off no end as well.  Initially I thought about replying to every troll post he makes but in the end I just decided to leave him to it.

He doesn't like Sony, he won't change his mind, and he'll continue to post this information at every opportunity he gets.  Best just to scroll past his post every time you see his avatar (since this website doesn't have an ignore function that I know of)

edit: Looks like he's banned, maybe we'll finally get a day off from it!

Oh and you should never launch a portable device at a price higher than your home hardware. That's just dumb and screw with value perception. iphones and Ipads are expensive but not more so than a Mac or Macbook.

The current PS3 can not be hacked. Selling more consoles means more games sold. I agree with the price cut.

an Ipohne 4s/ Ipad3 is not more expensive than a 5 year old mac/macbook?

Not even close. And they constantly upgrade the innards of their computers from my understanding.

I think the PS3 price cut helped it with the holidays a lot, and is helping for 2012.

If sony decide to do a price cut after selling the PS3 for $300 in two years, then Yes the price cut is a good thing. You guys seems to forget that it took 2 years to have this price cut. Any price cut after two year is not a bad thing.

Even though costing less would mean more sales => better place in the console war => people having a better impression of your console; it may not guarantee enough profit for Sony.

But, I think it was right to do the price cut , because in a short term they may have not get much profit; but in the long road they are getting more money and a better reputation.

They should make another price-cut.

nah, that's the difference,Apple just doesn't sell it's 5 year old models anymore, while that is pretty standard for consoles

a 2006 macbook costs half of what an Iphone 4 s without contract costs (with contract ofc it can be acquired for as low as 1€/prob. $1, but the monthly costs are enormous)