The problem with it, is microsoft is ready to pounce on sony if they do price-drop. While it may not be important to maintain marketshare for sony, instead being more important to remain profitable. It is more important to microsoft than sony to establish a more dominant presence in the console wars, thats why microsoft is taking such large steps to gain exclusives. That's why microsoft has been so aggressive in the past, starting the 7th generation console wars with the xbox 360 1 year earlier than it's competitors, why they've dropped their price so aggressively.

So if Sony Drops the price, yes. It will boost their sales, it will boost their marketshare. But for how long? And how effective? There's too much unknowns to say that a price-drop WILL save the PS3. Honestly, it looks more like it would destroy it.

Sony needs to make profit, they need to get back in the green. No company should bleed money for this long.

An UK retailer talking about prices in dollars? ...

I'm not saying it can't happen, but it sure will be interesting to see Sony's finances and share price if they're going to be reckless like that. Goodbye to the goal of seeking profitability in the games division (which they promised to shareholders).

Granted, the games division won't really exist anymore after April, as it will get merged, but considering that it's merging with two other under-performing  businesses (vaio/walkman), I don't really see how that can help.

it's kinda hard to take some one with halo wars sig as a true PS3 fan ,don't you think?

I don't view myself as a PS3 fan, Wii fan, or Xbox 360 Fan. I'm a gaming industry fan. Plain and simple.

Its just has hard to take someone with a KZ2 gif in his sig as a true PS3 fan.

@Squilliam - I see what you did there.

I believe sony shouldn't allow MS to run off like that especially this year with their mediocre line up due to their huge price advantage .so a price cut will ensure that PS3 has hit 299 point for gamers.

It should have happened already.PS3 is almost 2 and half years old and it's $400 and $500.Much higher than gamer's budget.I know 2 of my friends are waiting for a PS3 price drop to get one.they have the money but as they say ,they can't justify spending $450 or $550 for a PS3.(tax included)

A price drop is defintly coming at E3 if not before. Sony should drop $50 dollars now and then $50 again at the end of the year so they can get a piece of the Holiday Boost.

I agree, that a price drop for PS3 is not the only awnser to Sony's problems. With better marketing, software, and services the PS3 could move way more units at the price it is at. In fact I think just marketing it better would do worlds of differance. As hard as it is to believe, most people still don't know the PS3 plays Blu-ray movies, and for the most part, people I talk to don't even know the PS2 can play DVD's. This is the mainstream people that still call DVD's, CD's, If Sony can reach out and make more great commercials like the movie download machine commercial, I think that it would help sales a lot.

Now if they have to go with a price cut I still think they need to go about it in a way they can allow them to still sell some units at a profit. As I have said before, if they have to drop the price, here is the ideal way;

-$299
80GB Console
1 Dualshock 3
1 ethernet cable
1 composite cable

-$399
160GB Console
1 Dualshock 3
1 ethernet cable
1 HDMI cable

-$499
250GB Console
1 Dualshock 3
1 official headset
1 ethernet cable
1 HDMI cable
+2 extra USB
+card readers

IMO they would be stupid not to go with a gameplan similar to this. HDD's are all basically the same price, and when you buy in bulk as they do the cot between a 80 and 250GB HDD is mabye $10 - 20. Then you add in another 10 - 20 for the HDMI in the higher models, and 30 for the headset in the 250GB sku, and Sony is selling consumers around 70 more dollars worth the stuff for 200 more.

Now to us this is a scam, but to most people they do not care because they are to scared to open the system, and they won't mind paying the extra money to get a 250GB HDD right out of the box. This is why Microsofts plan is genious, and something that Sony is really going to have to take notice of if they want to compete.

Final Note; PS2 BC would be the best software/service they could add. To me it means nothing, but to many people, the idea of dropping 400 on a PS3 that can not play their old PS2 games is insane.

They made an insignificant profit over the holiday quarter ($4 million or something like that), which was smaller than the holiday quarter of 2007. Falling PS2/PSP sales don't help of course.

Things for a price cut:

- dropping manufacturing costs
- they need one

Things against a price cut:

- strong Yen
- state of the company as a whole (spending one more billion on price cuts is one more nail in the potential coffin)
- falling PS2/PSP sales (their cash cows)

All in all I think Sony has much more important things to worry about than a few measly points of market share, but let's see how it plays out.