Sony finally announced the 120GB "PS3 Slim" last week at GamesCom for $299, but also announced an immediate price drop for the current 80GB PS3 model to the same price point. As expected, sales have increased this week but it is clear that many consumers are waiting for the new model before making the jump.
We have compiled our latest Americas hardware data for the week ending 22nd August and in the three days following the price cut, daily PS3 hardware saw around a 30% increase. Overall, sales are up a a modest 12% week on week (and sales have been down significantly the last few weeks) - so maybe not as large a boost as many had expected. The reasons for this are twofold:
- Consumers are waiting for the new model PS3 which launches on September 1st
- Stocks of the existing model are starting to become quite low in the US - indeed the entire reason for the price cut is to get rid of the last of the stock to make way for the new model.
Similar have been seen across Europe, Japan and Other regions - modest 20-40% increases over the next few weeks due purely to the price cut, but far bigger increases in September when the new model arrives. We expect September weekly sales worldwide to be around double the 80,000 we've been seeing in August following a strong launch week.
Stay tuned for the latest updates as we have them.
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