According to Sony’s original estimates, stock of the 60GB
PlayStation 3 should be nearly depleted
from North American store shelves. With the $499 machine soon gone from retail,
the effective cost to buy a PlayStation 3 would be the $599 charged for the
80GB model – that is, unless Sony changes its pricing model.
In addition to analysts
expecting the price drop of the $599 model, stronger evidence of an even
cheaper PS3 SKU with a 40GB hard drive is now surfacing from various sources.
The UPC database lists product codes specifically for a “SONY PLAYSTATION 3
40GB.”
An internal document from big box retailer Best Buy also
lists a 40GB PS3 machine for $399. The product description also includes the
word “SPIDER,” leading credence to a previous report of Sony bundling Spider-Man 3 on Blu-ray Disc with PS3
consoles this holiday season. According to the document on Engadget,
the new 40GB PS3 is listed with an in-stock date of October 28, 2007.
The lower-cost PS3 will also likely hit in Europe as well,
with UK online retailer Play.com listing new product “Sony
Playstation 3 PS3 Console With 40GB HDD” as coming soon.
Rumblings of a new PlayStation 3 model were strongly sparked
earlier this week when an FCC filing by Sony
revealed new model number CECHG01. Furthermore, existence of this new model
was again proven with the CECHG01 number being listed explicitly as a
qualifying device on the Blu-ray Savings “Five
Free Movies” promotion.