@ Rainbird

Yeah I ment Q4 08, and Q1 09.

As for the sig. Like I said this is a thought I just had after seeing all the PS3 price drop speculation again. Personnaly, I think staying at $399 is the best move for them, if they can get the software, and services out to sell the system based on giving people soething that they just have to have. Unfortunatlly, the ball was dropped already at CES, and I don't think they are even considering stuff that would make the PS3 more atractive;

-Music Store
-Reasonable DRM
-IPTV
-DVR

Those are the kinds of things that will pull in consumers on the fence. Right now the PS3 and 360 are both in this spot were they could almost replace your dish or satilite box, but they just fall short. If one of these companies can reach the point were that is a reasonable idea to the masses, then they are going to start selling a lot of consoles.

sony will only cut prices once thier r+d has reduced the manufacturing costs to do so.

i belive best option for them is a 3 tier approach to cater for different buyers, they should keep the ps3 as it is and another an entry level cut down. its the entry level that they must concentrate on most. the ps3 as it is no matter what people think, people will keep buying it, but with a cheaper entry level a lot more purchasers with a lower budget will jump aboard.

£399/$499 - 250GB PS3 + 2 Controllers + Headset + Remote + HDMI + Backwards Compat + HD content
£299/$399 - 160GB PS3 + Controller + Headset + HDMI + Backwards Compat
£199/$299 - 80GB   PS3 + Controller + External PSU + No Wifi

^obviously there could be 1st party games bundled with the above, mabey on the top of line model a few bluray movies also added.

models like above would do very nicely, as the $499 and $399 will still sell in reasonable numbers, but the entry will sell more simply based upon price. if something along the lines of above are met in 2009, it could turn out well for sony.

the problem with ps3 has nothing to do with hardware, features, internet or games. its simply a question of price.

@scottie

I am not considering a turn around for, Sony. If the PS3 finishes in last place I am not all that concerned. The only thing I am worried about is keeping the PS3 up with the pack, and making enough money to keep making high quality games I expect from SCE. Your options may be very possible, and if one of them ended up being the case I would be thrilled. This is just a backup plan incase PS3 slides to dangerous waters, and needs a cut to stay in the mind of the consumers.

Actually, they have many more options. As scottie mentioned, they can also have no price cut or a smaller price cut  totaling $30-$50 during the year. They can also introduce a new sku with even less features (removing wi-fi and ... I don't know, I don't have a ps3) and selling this for $350.

Sony's situation is the most interesting to look at this year and I still think Sony can surprise us all with something really unexpected. So I'm not taking any guess at this, but I would put many, MANY options on the table if I thought about it. Those are very limited and I see a $100 price cut during this year on the current sku's as unlikely.

Nice thoughts Skeeuk.

I agree with all, but the external PS, and the removale of Wifi.

If they move to 45nm Cell, then the Powersuply in the PS3 will be reduced even smaller, and I don't see it making much of a cost differance whether it is internal or external. The only way it would make sense to remove the internal PS, is if they were to make the 80GB model slim, but I don't think they will go slim until they can do it across every sku.

Removing wifi. While this would save them a bit it would not be enough to be worth it IMO. A wifi reciver is very cheap, and it is even cheaper when ordered in bluk by a company like Sony. I think the advantage of giving consumers every possible road to the PS Store is more benificial. Many people will not hook their console up through a cable connection due to iggnorance, or because parents won't allow their kids to run a 100ft cord through the house just to be able to use the internet. The wifi makes it so nearly any consumer can make an easy connection, and in turn adds much more oppertunity for profits from PSN.

well they could launch it the same time as an entry level.

purchasers will buy a $499 model thats for sure, and regarding a $399 model that will keep selling no matter what like it is now. but the highest selling model would be my prospected $299 model.

the thing is for example someone like me a working adult, buying a ps3 £299/$399 is affordable and has proven tip-top value for me, but what of many others who are students or even younger who want a ps3.

its not as if they can just shell out £299/$399 just like that............i think most of them would have to rely on it being purchased for them as gifts for birthdays or xmas etc. <----------so in a situation like that in this tough climate consumers are pushed into buying cheaper products hence 360 sales have dramatically increased.

so for sony to make a cheap entry level, and have 2 more expensive models with extra value attahed to them is a very good idea, the only r+d headache for sony would be on the entry level, the other 2 they are just adding to package. i belive the bacwards compat should be done with emulation like it was in EU it wouldnt cost them anything. unlike the NA version it actually included an emotion chip.

Thanks for the post rubido.

I am glad to see an expansion to the normal ideas these threads usually end in. Taking a step back and looking at the situation from every angle shows that Sony has a lot of room to play than the doom and gloom posts have been giving, and I like to see this.

well i respectfully disagree with the psu and wifi.

an external psu imo would be cheaper than having it included on board along with taking out wifi, remeber this is an entry level model im talking about. i dont think they need to change the shape and make it slim. the shape looks good enough as it is. it mabey the case that less people will be connected to psn becasue of lack of wifi(going off entry level models).

^but the extra console sales and software sales to come from that would outway the psn connection issue. i belive not everyone will have thier ps3 away from thier net connection.

in my case my broadband is upstairs and my ps3 is downstairs, and it connects flawlessly, so wifi for me is 100% dead cert others may have thier conection next to ps3 and they could just use ethernet.

I think a lot of people are overestimating exactly how much the PS3 will cost to produce by the end of the year. At the beginning of the generation, one 60GB PS3 was estimated to cost Sony $840 to manufacture. Two years later, one 80GB PS3 is estimated to cost Sony $448 to manufacture. That's a difference of almost $200 per year! If Sony can keep redesigning the PS3 at even half the rate they have been over the last two years, then they could issue a $100 price-drop by the end of the year and still manage to be at the exact same point they are currently. And that's assuming that they only do half what they average over the past two years. Most likely they will be able to drop it more, which means that the PS3 would likely cost around $325 to manufacture by the end of the year, and that's still being pretty conservative.

I still don't understand how exactly people think Sony won't issue a price-cut by the end of the year.

i dont understand either, sony just like all consoles before them, and other companies before them are always working away to bring manufacturing costs down, ps3 is no different.

i think most people who claim sony cant drop price are people who dont want them to

once they have gotten to a stage where they can drop price sony will do im sure of it.