Sony's (SNE) PlayStation 3 is still getting its butt kicked by Nintendo's (NTDOY) cheaper Wii and Microsoft's (MSFT) older Xbox 360: In April, Sony sold an estimated 127,000 PS3s in the U.S., according to research firm NPD Group. That's 30% below Microsoft's Xbox sales -- and Nintendo's Wii is still outselling the PS3 almost 3-to-1.
Based on comments from Sony's earnings call yesterday
, now it seems the company is preparing price cuts to make the PS3 more affordable -- and give the platform a chance. (For more context, Sony sold 35% more price-reduced PS2s last month than PS3s, according to NPD.)
Daniel Ernst - Hudson Square Research
...on the Game division, after flat sales in the PlayStation 3 for the year you just reported you're forecasting a 30% increase, which is positive, but does that assume a price reduction in the plan for both the units and the profitability of the group?
Nobuyuki Oneda - Sony CFO
...In the case of the pricing strategy for the PS3, please allow me not to make any comments at this moment. This is a very serious issue, so if I announce, you know, the price strategy, that's where I'll fix the inventory level. I'm sorry.
http://www.businessinsider.com/sony-ps3-price-cut-around-the-corner-2009-5
