Probably +20% from 2008s sales. During the year and +1M higher than ever before during holidays.

You just have to be rational don't you...? Gosh.

Sowwy.

Increase a lot. I know a lot of people who are waiting for a cheaper PS3. Any price drop for PS3 will increase its sales a lot.

$100 price cut 1st week sales

Japan = 80k
NA = 200k
Europe = 280k

$50 price cut 1st week sales

Japan = 45k
NA = 120k
Europe = 200k

Weekly sales might increase at least 25%. I dont think Sony will cut $100. Slim PS3 will cut production cost but not that much. $50 is more aceptable. They still sell PS3 at loss. So, any increase in sales means more loss. Don't think Sony can afford more loss especialy during economic downturn.

damn squilliam beat me to saying a 20% increase in sales.

but yeah :s a 20% increase in yoy sales

As disgusting as it is to think of people needing a price cut to justify their purchase, I will look past that and give my opinion.

Personally, I think the rumors going around right now about a price cut in front of the Madden launch is a great idea if they want go that route. Madden gets a lot of casual players talking about games, and if a PS3 price cut is the biggest news besides Madden it spreads the news fast. If fact I still think it is possible that the PS3 slim could release near that time. It falls right in line with when Kaz said the 45nm Cell would be ready. If that is the case we will know right away. Sony is not going to produce two models of PS3 with the 45nm tech in them. It will either be in the current case, or in the new slim case.

As to the amount of the cut. I believe a $100 cut is very possible if they are bringing the Slim model out. Just to run though the benefits again;

-smaller BD drive = money saved + less power
-smaller Cell = money saved + less heat + less power + less fans + smaller motherboard
-less power consumption = cheaper power supply
-smaller case = less material to produce + Lower shipping cost + More space for retail

So if the slim is true, $100 dollars is a very easy target. The amount of savings is massive when you consider every area it cuts costs.

Here are my sales predictions for both a cut in August and a cut in October.

First Week

August
Japan - 65k (If a FF demo can do that, a $100 should be able to easly)
America - 120K
Europe - 150K
Total - 235K

October
Japan - 80k
America - 160k
Europe - 200K
Total - 440K

Either way, I think the momentum into the holidays would be huge, and with the first and third party titles coming to PS3 this fall, it would make things very interesting.

There are a number of ways Sony could quite easily offset the losses of selling a PS3slim at $299. For one thing, the slim model alone with it's smaller frame and motherboard, matte finish, 45nm Cell chip, smaller and cheaper heatsinks, and any other changes we may not know about will likely bring the manufacturing cost of the system down to at least $350 I should think.

With this in mind, Sony could keep their premium model available with 160GB hard drive and bundle it with a game like LittleBigPlanet, Uncharted 2, or Gran Turismo 5 for $399.99.

There's also a few things to keep in mind regarding Sony's financial situation.
1. Sony's fiscal prediction shows a 30% increase in PS3 sales over 2008 but at the same time shows their losses getting cut in half, albeit still way in the red. Arguably the only way Sony could possibly reach a 30% increase in PS3 sales is with a substantial (read: $100) price cut in every region this fall. The price cut is definitely coming. It's just an argument of how far back it will set SCE financially, which apparently isn't a crippling amount if they predict their losses will be cut in half.
2. The PSP Go! is a massive money maker. Since it most likely costs less than the PSP-3000 to manufacture and the current PSP is already profitible, that means that Sony gets over $80 in profit for every one sold. And rest assured, the thing will sell like hotcakes in Japan.
3. Sony has an unprecidented 1st party lineup coming for this fiscal year. God of War III, Gran Turismo PSP, Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier, SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Heavy Rain, MotorStorm: Arctic Edge, M.A.G., EyePet, SingStar Queen, Motown, and Take That, Buzz! Quiz World, Hot Shots Tennis, Fat Princess, PixelJunk Shooter, and more than likely the megaton that is Gran Turismo 5. Many of these games are ones that Sony has been sinking money into for 3 to 5 years now and they're finally going to be seeing a return for their years of investments.
4. Sony may still be selling the PS3 at a loss after the $100 price cut, but they likely won't be for long. A 45nm RSX chip should be coming to the PS3 by Spring 2010 at the latest.

Wow so it's value will lessen that much already? Says alot about the hardware eh? :/

It really does.

Its very high quality, initially expensive hardware that has a lot of room to come down in price.

I'm sure you would agree that it's wonderful when a technologically advanced piece of hardware is able to come down in price due to cost reductions?

Well i love all these predictions people are making....