Courtesy of NeoGAF.
http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Gaming/Industry/M7R4T9F4
"The boss of Sony Computer entertainment is really “Pissed”. In an emotional telephone call he claimed that Sony was not price gouging Australian consumers despite the fact that as of today the cost of an 80GB Sony Playstation at JB Hi Fi is $688.95 while at Best Buy in the USA it is selling for US$399.00 which based on today’s exchange rate equals A$595.00.
In the past the PS3 has been up to $150.00 to $284 more expensive in Australia than in the USA and even when the exchange rate was $0.96 in October of last year Sony SCE still had a recommended retail price of $699 in Australia on the same PS3 Console that was selling in the USA for $399.
The price difference then was a staggering $284.00.
Even Resistance 2 a game for the PS3 is being sold by SCE in Australia for $109.00. In the USA the game is US$50 which is still $25.00 cheaper when today's exchange rate is applied.
Michael Ephraim the CEO of SCE said in reference to a recent comment article written by me titled "Why Sony Is Utterly Broken And Why A PS4 Is Needed Now" "I am fed up of Sony being bashed we are not price gouging neither do we have regional codes in our software. I am calling in our lawyers as we are not in any way price gouging Australian consumers. This is misleading. We have to factor in exchange rates etc".
SmartHouse initially did infer that regional coding prevented consumers from using software purchased in the USA, we were wrong and have removed the comment.
When asked why Sony had never made a profit from the PS3 he refused to answer the question.
On the issue of Sony selling the PS3 in the past based on the fact that it had a Blu ray player and that now consumers can buy a low cost Blu ray player or get one built into a third party device he said "So what that consumer's can now buy a separate Blu ray player. What price do you think they will have to pay?"
When told $200 for a player and that PC's and home theatre kits were now coming with Blu ray built in for free he said "So what we have firmware upgrades and consumers can access content on the Internet".
"I am angry I am bloody angry over this story you will be hearing from my lawyers. Just because Sony is making losses does not mean that you can print garbage like this. I repeat we are not price gouging Australians".
He then hung up.
During the 5 minute rant he refused to explain why Sony was unable to deliver a hero console product that the Company could actually make money from.
He also refused to explain why Australians were expected to pay more for a Sony PS 3 than a US consumer.
SmartHouse understands that in Australia Sony supply major retailers like Harvey Norman, JB Hi Fi or EB Games direct so there are no distributor costs. The products are shipped direct from manufacturer to retailer. The same applies to Best Buy in the USA."
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Two things strike me about this article. One, what's-his-name needs to chill-out fast. If this article is accurate, he acted incredibly unprofessionally.
Two: Australians get screwed.
And bonus thought number three: why do I get the impression that this website's been baiting the guy before? That doesn't excuse the temper tantrum, mind you, but it doesn't reflect well on the site either.
