I am predicting that when the stand-alone blu-ray players drop down, or it looks like they will soon drop down below $600, then sony will drop the price, finally. At my best-buy, the cheapest blu-ray player is 799, down from the 999 3-4 months ago. If my idea is true, and the rate of DVD players price dropping holds, then we would probably see a price cut before christmas.

I doubt it...there are other components to the price, including research, marketing and development, not to mention the actual gaming part to it. I think the blue ray cost would need to drop to $350 or so for Sony to consider this... Additionally, since they are not selling fast right now, it is more difficult to weed out the inefficiencies in manufacturing for price reduction. Still, if Microsoft drops the price of 360 this year I can see it happening. But keep in mind, a 360 price drop has a) no bearing on Japan, where 360 is irrelevant essentially and PS3 is cheaper, and b) it seems as if the majority of software sales this year will be on DS/Wii in Japan, PS2/DS in Europe, and 360/DS in the Americas, meaning profit is far less likely anytime soon with a (significant) price drop. I think Sony could do it if really forced to though, because PS2 sales still largely offset PS3 costs. However, with PS2 sales declining, and PS3 a loss leader, it would be risky business because no one knows when PS2 sales will finally fall off in the west as they largely have in Japan... Lastly, if Sony does drop the price this year, it will appear to many because they are 1) getting their asses kicked or 2) 'trying' to look like the emerging market leader as Microsoft did when it dropped the Xbox price in May 2002...

Nope. Price cuts as I see them are: 360 -- sometime this summer. System is now making profits and revision is coming out soon w/ 60nm cpu. So, premium system will drop by $50 and new system will sell at $420 or so. Wii -- by xmas OR if 360 goes with 3 skus and drops the cheap model by $50 then so will Wii. PS3 -- price is not only based on BR player. The Cell and many other Hardware pieces make the price to a huge loss right now for Sony. Something like $200 or $250. They won't be able to bring the production costs down enough until at least summer 2008. By the regular BR players will be in the $400 range and Sony will probably drop prices by $100.

I'd expect to see a price cut no sooner than fall and no later than spring. The price cut I'm really waiting for is 360. No reason for it to have not dropped yet. When Microsoft cuts may dictate when Sony does.

October appears to be the time that many say the PS3 should get a price cut (Just type in google 'PS3 Price Cut' and click on news). Sony will soon have no choice other than to cut the price, be it in line with BD players coming down or the competition from other consoles.

65 nano Cell Br prices droping E engine axed lookin like this year.

I think the prices of the other consoles are far mor important for the ps3-price then the price of stand-alone blue-ray players. i expect a price drop of the x360 with the launch of halo in autumn, and if sony won't sell more until that time, they will have to cut their price down if they still want to compete in the next-gen war. the question is if they can afford that.

I'll say it again, Sony can't win a price war. Sony has less margin to work with than MS or Nintendo.

I'd expect a PS3 price cut first. There really is no reason for Microsoft to cut the price of the 360. It's outselling the PS3, it's already 1-200 cheaper, and it has more titles. Add to this that they still haven't turned a profit on the thing, so they don't want to push themselves futher into the red when it isn't necessary, either. The main reason for the PS3's slow sales is the price, so a $100 price drop is all that it would take. That would put the 20GB PS3 at $400, which most people don't seem to mind paying. At that point, I'd expect MS to drop the price, but only by $50.

Yeah, while Microsoft is making money on their machines (finally) they have several yaers of loses to make up for. They will save a price cut for the last possible minute, which is the minute Sony announces a price cut. Chances are, they are already prepared for it to happen this Christmas. But, again, they aren't going to make the first move when their sales are as expected and loss revcovery is at hand. Sony, however, will almost certainly release a new machine this year at the $400 price range. BR is coming down in price fast, and that was at worst the second most expensive component, though likely the most at launch. Between that dropping, losing the EE, and making a few other cuts here and there they can have a $400 model out by Christmas and lose no more per unit than they havve been so far (potentially less) while buying the faith of gamers back. There are masses of people who want the thing but simply can't afford it, and they could easily move 4 million units worldwide (ir not much more) this Christmas if they can get to a price point people like. The trick with Sony just happens to be that its business feeds off itself. BR is coming down in price because they are now selling twice as many movies as the competition. They are doing that because of the PS3. If BR comes down in price, so does the PS3. PS3 price cuts mean additional system sales, which maens more BR sales. Repeat.