The_Liquid_Laser said: I've noticed that over the years, the price on software drops faster and faster, especially used games at Gamestop. However, new games drop to $40 then $20 just after a few months. They may have to keep hardware prices up longer to compensate the lower profit on software. I was surprised how long it took the PS3 price to come down, and I am even more surprised how hesitant they are to drop the PS4 price. |
I still contend that price cuts being fewer in number and lesser in degree than they were in Gen 6 & earlier is why PlayStation & Xbox systems are able to run on longer generations than the previous norms. Last generation it appears to be the culprit behind slow growth and delayed peaks. Essentially, last generation was as long as it was on purpose, and probably for good reason (imagine how much weaker the PS4 & XBO would have been at $400 had they launched in, say, 2011).
This generation, it's basically been keeping non-holiday sales steady, but not producing any clear longer-term growth, with official short-term holiday price cuts diverting a larger portion of sales towards Q4 than in prior generations. Outside of Nintendo systems, you don't see the early peaks you used to anymore, and it remains to be seen if even Nintendo will still run on shorter gens than Sony & MS, or if they too will attempt to put the Switch's sales on a PS/Xbox-style "slow burn" sales trajectory.