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Gadgets London PS3 Launch: Buy a PS3, Get a Free 46" HDTV
Brandon Hill (Blog) - March 23, 2007 12:00 AM

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85 comment(s) - last by Chaser.. on Mar 25 at 4:00 PM

Sony hands out free 46" HDTVs to the first 100 customers in London

Eager London gamers that waited in line to get their hands on a PlayStation 3 this morning got way more than they may have bargained for before camping out. Sony, obviously in a generous mood, gave the first 100 customers to purchase a £425 ($834 USD) PS3 a free 46" HDTV and a free taxi ride home.

In all, Sony gave away over £250,000 ($490,450 USD) in HDTVs to accompany the PS3 launch. The free taxi ride was most likely a nod to the fact that many customers who showed up to purchase a PS3 might not have exactly had enough room to transport a 46" HDTV back to their homes.

"I feel fantastic. I'm delighted that everyone here also gets a television," said 17-year-old Ritatsu Thomas who was the first buyer in line.

The PS3 has gotten off to a somewhat slow start in the United States and has been consistently outsold by both the Wii and Xbox 360 since its November launch. Sony is confident, however, that the European and Australian launches of its PS3 will help vault it into first place in the next generation console wars. A strong showing in these two regions could help boost the overall global sales numbers of the PS3.

Sony has also had a few months to add features to the PS3's firmware and bulk up its game library to entice European gamers. "There are benefits for European consumers - there are more games available, more Blu-ray movies and we've updated the online PlayStation network," said Sony's Phil Harrison.

Sony had originally planned to launch the PS3 simultaneously worldwide on November 17, 2006. The company announced, however, in early September 2006 that the European launch would be delayed until March 2007. Sony at the time cited problems with manufacturing blue laser diodes as one of the reasons for the delay.

Despite the delay, Sony is ready to conquer Europe and has made 200,000 consoles available for the UK launch.

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But no price cut?

By BMFPitt on 3/23/2007 12:42:33 AM , Rating: 2

If they had that here, and I didn't have an HDTV and an XBox 360 already, that would be worth it.

But I wonder how many games you would have to buy for them just to break even on the deal?

RE: But no price cut?

By Macuser89 on 3/23/2007 12:46:19 AM , Rating: 2

^^ more games then the PS3 has out. I wish the PS3 did better.

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RE: But no price cut?

By dome1234 on 3/23/2007 12:51:12 AM , Rating: 2

the quarter million bucks is a tad overrated. I won't be too suprised if they're older model. As sony concentrates on lcd tv as I read somewhere they're ditching plasma etc, I'd expect big sale on their non-lcd models to get rid of inventory quick. Warehouse spaces for bulky hdtv aren't cheap I would think.

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RE: But no price cut?

By Marcus Yam on 3/23/2007 1:08:02 AM , Rating: 2

From what I understand, it was a Bravia TV. I don't care how old the model is, all Bravia's are great looking sets.

I'd even trade my Emotion Engine + Graphics Synthesizer for a Bravia.

Amazing deal from Sony Europe.

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RE: But no price cut?

By ObscureCaucasian on 3/23/2007 1:49:13 AM , Rating: 2

Well for the first 100 in London. Sony just wanted to draw people out for the launch and probably hopes that number 101 on will stay even w/o the tv.

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RE: But no price cut?

By dome1234 on 3/23/2007 6:03:54 AM , Rating: 2

I'm not complaining by the way. That freebie certainly is better than free t-shirts. Bravia tv line stretches far, if it's a projection, it's not ideal for gaming.

the deal's only valid for those who queued for the launch party I suppose. I don't think they advertise it baiting more folks to turn up.

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RE: But no price cut?

By BZDTemp on 3/23/2007 5:58:24 AM , Rating: 2

It's also worth remembering that Sony does not pay retail for the TV's plus it's pretty cheap PR.

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RE: But no price cut?

By dome1234 on 3/23/2007 6:05:32 AM , Rating: 2

i wouldn't say cheap. the prices for consumer electronics are pretty cutthroat due to the competition. But certainly lower than retail, by how much is everyone's guesses.

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RE: But no price cut?

By brshoemak on 3/23/2007 7:39:55 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
i wouldn't say cheap. the prices for consumer electronics are pretty cutthroat due to the competition. But certainly lower than retail, by how much is everyone's guesses.

A majority of consumer electronics have razor thin margins (think digital cameras and computers), but most non-tube TV's still have quite a hefty markup in the retail space.

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RE: But no price cut?

By exdeath on 3/23/07, Rating: -1

By exdeath on 3/23/2007 11:57:58 AM , Rating: -1

Yup. You think it really costs $2000 more to go from 46" to 56"? Both sets have the same $250 optics system in them, you just get to pay more for the privilege of saying your TV is bigger than someone else’s while Sony pockets the difference and laughs all the way to the bank. Easy money, this thing called ‘artificial market segmentation’. Make one cheap massed produced product and sell it at 20 different price points based on perceived value of changing different flags or jumpers.

I can run my projector on a 70” screen or a 160” screen; it doesn’t make the projector cost more. I just pay a linearly proportional and small increase for the extra screen material. I don’t pay some artificially and exponentially inflated price for marginal improvements as is common in electronics. Of course they get away with it because people are dumb in general and are not aware of this sort of thing, and will gladly pay disproportionately more to have something 0.01% better than someone else.

I hate artificial market segmentation based on selling the same thing at different price points. It's like paying $3000 more for the "GT" or whatever version of a car that has 10 more HP with the same exact engine because they set a flag in the computer which they lock you out of and stick a different emblem on the trunk. To me that is devious and a total crock of shit, compared to something tangible like going from a 4 cyl to a 6 cyl to a 8 cyl.

Same thing with CPUs. Yields may be the issue at first with the higher speed chips, but after the process is refined and the kinks are worked out, all chips are capable of higher speeds. They bin most of them out as lower speeds to make the faster chips appear to be more valuable. When it gets devious and outright unethical is when a few people (ie: overclocking) catch on to this and they start implementing things like multiplier locks, etc. and claim they are doing it to stop piracy ala the DRM nazis.

These days everyone just wants to make a fast buck without actually putting any effort into real differentiation.

Of course I’m all for free market and all, and as long as people are unaware of these kinds of practices, they will keep paying the extra markups.

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RE: But no price cut?

By exdeath on 3/23/2007 12:09:47 PM , Rating: 2

Back to the thread ...

Point being after my above post, is that it probably didn't cost as much as you think it cost to give a few TVs away.

If they were flat panels, it would be great use for those panels with a few bad pixels that most normal people would never notice =D If I'm paying $1200 for a 30" LCD for my PC, I demand zero dead sub pixels because I am paying a premium price for a premium product. When you pay $300k for a Ferrari, even a single bad stitch in the leather is absolutely not acceptable.

But if I was given a free 46" HDTV, can't really complain too much if it's only 99.99% perfect.

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RE: But no price cut?

By Orbs on 3/23/2007 1:04:34 PM , Rating: 2

Since we're giving economics lessons, you have to remember opportunity cost. Even if it's much less expensive for Sony to manufacture those TVs, they would have sold at or close to the MSRP (given that the lucky few were lining up outside retail outlets). Therefore, Sony lost a lot of profit on that deal.

This may be somewhat mitigated by the bundle (or price hike in the worst case) of the PS3. The article cited greater than $800 US for the PS3s being purchased wheras it's $600 in the US for their premium package.

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RE: But no price cut?

By exdeath on 3/23/2007 1:23:49 PM , Rating: 2

Definately. Giving away something free is always going to cause a loss, but giving away something that consumers are more than willing to pay 500% markup on? Definately lost opportunity.

This plan has something to do with making sure when these new PS3 owners show their new PS3s to their friends, it will be on a HDTV and leave a bigger impression. Better chance of a future PS3 and Sony HDTV customer.

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RE: But no price cut?

By aos007 on 3/23/2007 1:36:18 PM , Rating: 2

"free £2,500 high-definition TV"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6482789.stm

100 x 2500 = quarter million POUNDS

These are not cheap nor crappy TVs. They are likely the latest 1080p Bravias, or at worst the previous model thoguh I doubt those would cost that much. Not XBR2's but still pretty high up on the food chain.

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RE: But no price cut?

By FastEddie on 3/23/2007 7:33:39 PM , Rating: 2

A quarter of a million added to their advertising budget is a drop in the bucket.

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Waiting...

By Ard on 3/23/2007 1:17:42 AM , Rating: 2

Now I'll just sit back and watch as the fanboys attempt to spin this negatively.

RE: Waiting...

By jtesoro on 3/23/2007 1:50:25 AM , Rating: 2

Reading through, it's happening already. On the opposite site, where is michal1980? Now he actually will have something more solid to back his statements up.

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RE: Waiting...

By FITCamaro on 3/23/2007 7:25:35 AM , Rating: 2

All Sony bashing aside, it is a bad thing when a company feels compelled to give away something thats 2-3x more expensive than the item itself. Especially when they're claiming that anyone and everyone is clamoring to buy their product. That's like Chevy saying "Come buy a Cobalt and we'll give you a Corvette for free".

It truly shows the desperate state Sony is in to try and recover from the slow sales of the PS3. Regardless of this little ploy, I have a feeling European gamers aren't going be much more enthusiastic about the PS3 than American gamers have been. Especially when you consider they're paying 1.5x as much as us for a handicapped product. $599 euros is like almost $900USD.

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RE: Waiting...

By dice1111 on 3/23/2007 9:28:45 AM , Rating: 2

To be fair, they did not announce that they were giving the TV's away before the launch. They have only stated that it happened after the launch.

"You bought a Cobalt, and get to take away this Corvette for free" is a more accurate analogy.

Still a ploy for publicity, but not a means for people to come to the store to buy. Truely lucky people either way you spin it.

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RE: Waiting...

By FITCamaro on 3/23/2007 12:23:44 PM , Rating: 2

Ok my analogy was wrong but nowhere did I say they announced the giveaway. Just that it was evidence of Sony's poor sales that they'd even do it when the item is supposedly in such high demand.

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RE: Waiting...