When Sony announced in July a $100
price cut on the 60GB PlayStation 3, it also unveiled a new 80GB PS3
packaged with MotorStorm. What SCEA
didn’t reveal, but SCEE boss David Reeves did, is that production
had already ceased on the North American 60GB consoles.
SCEA communications officer Dave Karraker eventually
confirmed, “The 60GB PS3 will be available in North America for $499 until
supplies of that unit are depleted. We have ample inventory to meet the
immediate needs of consumers in this territory for several months to come.”
During late August, Karraker said, “We no longer have any
inventory in SCEA warehouses. All inventory has been purchased and shipped to
retailers ... We don't have visibility as to if that is on their store shelves
or in their warehouses at this time. However, based on inventory reports from
our retailers, there is ample supply still left in the channel.”
According to comments Bloomberg
received from Sony spokeswoman Kimberly Otzman, supplies of the 60GB model
probably will last through October. What the representative could not comment
on, however, is what would happen to the overall pricing of the PlayStation 3
once the $499 60GB console is no longer available to consumers.
Price has always been a sensitive issue for Sony’s latest
console. Should there be no movement on price, the effective cost to consumers
for the PlayStation 3 will be the $599 charged for the 80GB model – perhaps
leading some to perceive the situation as a $100 price hike to own the console.
Sony likely already has plans for what it will do once the
60GB model is gone, but the company isn’t saying anything just yet. Wedbush
Morgan Securities analyst Edward Woo, among others, firmly believes that Sony
will cut the price of the 80GB PS3. “That's what everybody's expecting,” Woo
said in a Bloomberg interview. “That
would be a surprise if they don't.”