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Forums - Sony - Sony halting PS3 Supply to South Korea

BKK2 on 23 March 2009
NJ5 said:
BKK2 said:

I'm highly skeptical that this is true. When Asian currencies depreciated against the Yen before SCE Asia increased the price of the PS3. Why wouldn't they do the same again instead of halting supply? It makes no sense.

However, South Korea and Japan use different voltage frequencies with the nominal voltage for South Korea being 220/380 and being 100/200 for Japan. Those picking up a Korean PS3 for Japan will need a converter.


This is completely false, PS3 has a universal PSU, it works on all voltages without a "converter". Korean PS3 is exactly the same as Japanese PS3, which is why none of this makes any sense.

It makes sense if PS3 hardware and/or software sales were too low to justify supporting the PS3 in Korea. I guess the 10-year lifecycle has already been broken in Korea if this is true.

As for your second point, is that the case for all the PS3 models? If you are right the article makes even more sense, since it means Japanese don't need to spend money on a converter, making a Korean PS3 look even cheaper.

 

There's absolutely no suggestion in the article that this is due to unsustainably low sales in Korea. PS3 is the only console with no piracy, in a country where piracy is rampant, it's legitimate software sales are probably higher than any other console. SCE Korea have been operating there for years, all of their infrastructure is already there for PS2 and PSP, it shouldn't cost them anymore to also distribute PS3. My guess is that SCEI are renogotiating the price SCE Korea pay for the PS3, and aren't shipping anymore until the new price SCE Korea have to pay is finalised. This seems far more likely than "10 year plan broken in Korea", which impied that PS3 has actually been discontinued there.

Yes, all PS3s have universal PSUs, but I don't think this was from the original article anyway, rather it's just typical bad "reporting" by Kotaku.

 



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numonex on 25 March 2009

Sony are being spiteful by doing this. So they end up losing a few thousand sales because the smart Japanese are saiving $50 or something by reverse importing from Soth Korea.

South korea are they included in Others or Japan sales data?

PS3 is slightly more expensive in Japan than NA. It retails for $420 US in Japan could be different due to foreign exchange rate volatility.

PS3 fans were happy that PS3 were being sold out in South Korea.



BKK2 on 03 April 2009

SCEK just announced what they are doing about the problem this week - they raised the PSP/PS3 price to 268k/488k, directly following existing stock running out.


Link



johnsobas on 03 April 2009

I dont' see why they don't rise the price so it's like $50 less expensive as Japan, then it wouldn't be worth it anymore. It wouldn't be that big of a price hike. A small price hike would be better than not sending any.



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scottie on 03 April 2009

Do you want to go over that one a bit slower BKK2?

I read it as

Once there are no more of them to sell, they will sell at 268k/488k



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johnsobas on 03 April 2009
BKK2 said:

I'm highly skeptical that this is true. When Asian currencies depreciated against the Yen before SCE Asia increased the price of the PS3. Why wouldn't they do the same again instead of halting supply? It makes no sense.

However, South Korea and Japan use different voltage frequencies with the nominal voltage for South Korea being 220/380 and being 100/200 for Japan. Those picking up a Korean PS3 for Japan will need a converter.


This is completely false, PS3 has a universal PSU, it works on all voltages without a "converter". Korean PS3 is exactly the same as Japanese PS3, which is why none of this makes any sense.

 

that's true but in korea they have these really messed up plug ins that they would need a converter for or buy a new power cord in Japan.



currently playing: Skyward Sword, Mario Sunshine, Xenoblade Chronicles X

BKK2 on 03 April 2009
scottie said:
Do you want to go over that one a bit slower BKK2?

I read it as

Once there are no more of them to sell, they will sell at 268k/488k

They've sold out of hardware which they bought when the exchange rate was better. Now that the exchange rate is a lot worse they have to pay a lot more for new stock than before, so they've increased PS3 and PSP hardware prices to reflect this. I'm sure the new fiscal year just starting isn't a coincidence, SCEI probably made SCEK wait for it to start before shipping more hardware at the new price.

 



BKK2 on 03 April 2009
johnsobas said:
BKK2 said:

I'm highly skeptical that this is true. When Asian currencies depreciated against the Yen before SCE Asia increased the price of the PS3. Why wouldn't they do the same again instead of halting supply? It makes no sense.

However, South Korea and Japan use different voltage frequencies with the nominal voltage for South Korea being 220/380 and being 100/200 for Japan. Those picking up a Korean PS3 for Japan will need a converter.


This is completely false, PS3 has a universal PSU, it works on all voltages without a "converter". Korean PS3 is exactly the same as Japanese PS3, which is why none of this makes any sense.

 

that's true but in korea they have these really messed up plug ins that they would need a converter for or buy a new power cord in Japan.

Yeah, it's just a standard IEC cable like you get on kettles/PCs/monitors etc. They cost next to nothing and I'm sure most homes have several already.

 



Bullet100000 on 03 April 2009

The Yen is too strong so in a way this was hurting them smart move this should force people to pay more.



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CommunistHater on 04 April 2009

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