^^Prolly after this holiday season.

Any info to back that up? According to most analysts, MS is making a profit on hardware right now, such a small price drop wouldn't hurt them nearly as much as a $399 PS3 would hurt Sony's pockets. If these rumours are true, Sony would be giving up $100 per sold PS3, a part of Spiderman 3's revenue, and a lot of money on Ratchet and Clank too... and you're surprised a company as rich as Microsoft could do a measly $20-$30 price drop??

Get some perspective please...

M$ wants to DESTROY SONY. Sony needs to destroy micro$oft without them knowing it... $399.99 ps3 will destroy competition.

I don't accept the concept that - whatever Sony does - it's doomed, for that matter. When the price drops to a comparable/competitive figure with the Xbox 360, to £299 or about, the brand name of the PlayStation will be enough to possibly coast it until 2008, regardless of how Microsoft prices its own console.

by dropping the price, and with the lack of AAA games Sony will not recuperate enough financially and they will continue to lose money but equally they will be selling a heck lot more consoles than they are now - and more importantly perhaps, the install base could grow up 2-3million more by the end of the year if everything works out for them.

There are still many people in Europe who are just waiting for Sony to do this. They're not interested in what MS will offer unless Sony does not drop the price.

Cheaper Xbox 360 + AAA games versus Slightly more expensive PS3 + brand name. The sales figures for the both could very well be comparable at the least, if not more, especially in Europe - as we both know its Sony territory in many respects.

Since when did a movie become a killer app for a GAME system,and when did rachet and clank become a killer app i mean is it that good that it will sell sell systems not too many people know or care about rachet and clank.I never hear anybody say man i can't wait to that new rachet and clank game comes out to me thats just reaching thinking that game will sell systems

ummm i might be wrong but every ratchet and clank game has gone triple platinum... meaning that they have sold at least 3 million.. if its not 3 mil i know its at least 2 million..

Sony easily have the weakest software lineup this Xmas - I don't see how anyone can debate that (note that I'm not saying its a BAD lineup - just worse than both MS & Ninty).

An extra price cut will only drive sales so far.

I still think it would be insanity to release a $399 PS3 now - rather than after the holidays, when Killzone, GTA4, MGS (etc..) all arrive.

...

And BTW, Sony is still losing money on the $599 PS3s - from what I gather, they aren't that much closer to breaking even. So to suggest they can drop $20-$30 of components, and drop $200 off the price - I just can't see it.

...

I do wonder though - Sony DID say they were going to refocus advertising on the BluRay playback feature of the device.

With the release of cheap HD-DVD players this Xmas, a much bigger worry for Sony is that HD-DVD could gain some real momentum. So maybe this new model is basically a BluRay player - a ultra-stripped down PS3 that comes with nothing except Spiderman.

They *might* be able to justify that... maybe. But even if they do reach the $399 price point, HD-DVD players will be on the market for what - $199? Half the price?

(the BluRay consortium would be much better off releasing non-PS3 dedicated players for $299, or whatever they can afford?)

You are going a bit too far leo-j. This will in fact beat the 360, but destroy all the competition, I hope you mean the HD competition.

I'm still confused - why do people believe this will come at $399? What evidence is there to suggest that? Is it just a rumour that someone started and then got copied hundreds of times until it became "truth"?