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Forums - Sony Discussion - PS3's $399 Price 'Simply Too Steep,' says Analyst

KatinJin on 07 October 2008

EEDAR's Jesse Divnich believes consumers have been waiting for a PS3 price cut and if they don't get it, they'll flock to Xbox 360 this holiday. Gears of War 2 is expected to top all software sales this holiday, said Divnich.

by James Brightman on Tuesday, October 07, 2008

In advance of next week's September video game sales data from The NPD Group, EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich has sent out his preview note, forecasting a software sales increase of just one percent to $660 million. This is largely due to Halo 3 boosting the market 47 percent last September. Including PC games like Spore, and sales are predicted to rise four percent to $740 million.

On the hardware front, EEDAR sees Nintendo dominating with 600,000 units sold each for the Wii and DS. The Xbox 360 is also expected to sell 320,000 thanks mostly to the recent price cut. The PS3 meanwhile is predicted to sell only 215,000 units, and the PSP has been forecast to sell 235,000.

 

"The $399 price point is simply too steep to entice the casual and mainstream markets, regardless of how great Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet may be."

 

The PS3 and Xbox 360 would appear to be going in opposite directions. "Due to the price drop, we expect the Xbox 360 to sell over 320,000 units. This would be the first time this year that the Xbox 360 surpasses 300,000 units a single month. This would also be a 31% increase in weekly sales over last month," said Divnich. "For the PS3, we expect weekly sales to decrease by 7% to 43,000 units a week."

Divnich believes price and first-party titles could drive consumers away from PS3 and towards Xbox 360. He's urging Sony to reconsider a holiday price cut on the PS3.

"...the surge in Xbox 360 sales likely came from the mainstream and casual markets who were enticed by a sub-$200 Xbox 360 SKU. We should note that if Microsoft's first-party titles perform significantly better in quality and popularity than Sony's this holiday season, we could begin to see a considerable amount of potential PS3 owners, who may be waiting for a PS3 price cut, to choose the Xbox 360 over the PS3," he said. "Currently, we expect Gears of War 2 to be the single best selling SKU this holiday season."

"We still urge Sony to consider a possible hardware price cut this holiday season. If September hardware sales fall below our estimate (under
200,000 units), it could be an indication that the Xbox 360 price cut played a bigger role on hindering PS3 sales than what we originally expected," Divnich continued. "While we have no doubts that titles like Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet will drive the core gaming market to purchase a PS3, we do, however, have doubts that either title will lure in casual and mainstream gamers. The $399 price point is simply too steep to entice the casual and mainstream markets, regardless of how great Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet may be."

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/ps3s-399-price-simply-too-steep-says-analyst/?biz=1



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leo-j on 07 October 2008

A $299 ps3 would be a huge huge test, that in my opinion will make or break the ps3.

Now if sony is willing to take that test/risk its up to them, but they will lose alot of money if the PS3 starts flying off shelves at 299.



 

mM
TheTruthHurts! on 07 October 2008

$399 may seem a bit steep for economic situations in many regions. But with the inclusion of a blu-ray player in the PS3, I feel that the $399 is warranted considering what you are getting for your money. It's a great system.

Heck....if it wasn't for the competition the Wii, and 360 produced this Gen, Sony might still be charging $499 or $599 for the PS3. I consider Sony's initial woes and ego bitchslap, a blessing in disguise for many gamers, who might not have been able to afford a PS3 without past cuts!



WiiStation360 on 07 October 2008

I still do not see a price cut for the PS3 this year. There is no way they will lose $100 per console.

A $299 PS3 would destroy the 360, but it will not happen.



Cueil on 07 October 2008

The problem with looking at the PS3 as a br player is that it's a console first with the ability to play br disk... add that to the cost of a BR and you get jittery people who still think their DVD is just fine.



 
Get your Portable ID!

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Chrizum on 07 October 2008

Wow, for once an analyst who I can agree with.

I see the Wii and the 360 dominate the PS3 this holiday.



ultimate_123 on 07 October 2008

A $300 PS3 is gonna be too early for the PS3. Half the price already 2 years in and Sony will be loosing a hell of a lot of money and the share holders won't like it.... at all.



End of '08 predictions (made by theprof00): PS3: 20m, 360: 23.5m, wii: 42m

Now Playin':  PS3|Resistance 2, LBP, Uncharted and Fifa 09, PSP| Ratchet and Clank: Size matters, 360| Gears of war 2 and Fallout 3.

BMaker11 on 07 October 2008

too steep?

Funny, because wasn't that what the 360 cost from launch until mid/late 2007? And even still, isn't that what the Elite costs now?



goddog on 07 October 2008

sony simply cant afford to cut it this year, next maybe..... on another note the slide in the euro, now 1 euro to 1.39 dollars will also slow price cuts in europa this will slow all future price cuts from all three



come play minecraft @  mcg.hansrotech.com

minecraft name: hansrotec

XBL name: Goddog

loy310 on 07 October 2008

Keep dreaming there, Sony won't drop the price until after the holiday, they have been in the game long enough to know better than to take advice from some random fanboy. 15 million+ people bought the system at $600 - $400 price range and that says a lot.