DailyTech - PS3 Price Cut Rumored for August

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Gadgets PS3 Price Cut Rumored for August
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - June 9, 2009 12:47 PM

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41 comment(s) - last by initialised.. on Jun 11 at 4:24 PM

Rumors say PS3 will drop $100 to coincide with Madden NFL's August launch

As the global economy continues to remain weak, most markets are seeing sales at the lowest point in many years. Even the stalwart video game industry is seeing sales figures decline in the face of the economic recession.

Console sales are directly tied to software sales and many game publishers are putting pressure on Sony to drop the price of its PS3 console. The PS3 is by far the most expensive game console on the market that is currently dominated by the lower priced Nintendo Wii.

Sony maintains that no price cuts are coming on the console and some industry analysts say that Sony simply can’t cut the price of the PS3 considering that the console is still a money loser for the company. Rumors of price cuts on the PS3 continue to circulate as fast as Sony can deny price cuts are coming.

The latest rumor comes from IndustryGamers who cites industry sources that claim a price cut on the PS3 is coming in August to coincide with the launch of the latest Madden NFL game. If the rumors are to be believed this time, the price cut would be significant at $100.

The price cut is said to be coming mid-August shortly before the August 18 launch of Madden. Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said, "The industry is alive and well. While software sales for the first half of 2009 are expected to be down mid-single-digits, we believe the second half, in contrast, will likely be up 10% to 15% driven by a robust lineup, easier comparisons and potential price cut(s)."

Sales of game hardware and software are predicted to have drop another 17% in May. If Sony cuts the price on its PS3, odds are Microsoft and Nintendo would cut prices on their consoles as well. Price cuts could be the catalyst that the gaming industry needs to pull out of its sales nosedive.

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Price

By Tacoloft on 6/9/2009 1:50:25 PM , Rating: 5

Cool (sarcasm)- how about a price drop on the GAMES Sony!!! You would think that Uncharted (2 years old) was made of gold being at $59.99 STILL!!! Why does Sony hold back on the price drop of their games longer than the competition? If you compare any multi console game with Sony's you can always find it cheaper on ANOTHER console. Why is that? I though Sony was trying to sell units not dissuade peo0ple from buying due to lack of price cuts on their games. I'm a little miffed at Sony not appealing to the wallets of gamers.

RE: Price

By FITCamaro on 6/9/2009 1:53:37 PM , Rating: 3

Well to be honest, not just Sony is guilty of this. But yeah a launch title should be on a greatest hits list by now.

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RE: Price

By Golgatha on 6/9/2009 2:04:38 PM , Rating: 2

This goes for Heavenly Sword too.

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RE: Price

By Farfignewton on 6/9/2009 7:40:17 PM , Rating: 1

quote:
This goes for Heavenly Sword too.

While both could probably use a price drop, neither was a launch title. They both came out in 2007, late November in the case of Drake's Fortune. On the other hand, I don't know how much price drops are Sony's doing, I would think the publisher and perhaps retailer would determine that. Case in point, most retail shops gave Lair an overdue price cut to $29 months ago, yet the three Best Buys closest to me still carry it for $60.

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RE: Price

By MrPickins on 6/10/2009 7:07:20 PM , Rating: 3

Exactly.

Nintendo is the worst offender in this area. Zelda Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 3 and Mario Galaxy are all still $50 retail...

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RE: Price

By adiposity on 6/9/2009 6:52:13 PM , Rating: 2

Once a certain number are sold, they go to greatest hits, I think. Uncharted, despite being a great game, was not known by a lot of PS3 owners. It didn't sell as well as hoped, or as it should have IMO.

So maybe that's the problem.

-Dan

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RE: Price

By icanhascpu on 6/9/2009 7:02:14 PM , Rating: 2

Or maybe it didnt sell very well because it never came down in price.

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RE: Price

By Farfignewton on 6/9/2009 7:43:04 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Or maybe it didnt sell very well because it never came down in price.

The majority of game sales come right after launch.

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RE: Price

By raphd on 6/9/2009 10:49:50 PM , Rating: 2

I'd buy it if it went to at most $39

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RE: Price

By sc3252 on 6/10/2009 5:22:35 AM , Rating: 2

This is actually the reason why I haven't bought a "nextgen" console. The games make the console more expensive then upgrading a pc every other year. Most of the games I can buy on the pc for $30-40 still retail for $60 on a ps3 or xbox360. I tried really hard to rationalize after getting an hd tv, but the prices just don't go down on consoles making them a poor choice for value gamers.

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RE: Price

By Hiawa23 on 6/10/2009 10:03:01 AM , Rating: 2

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RE: Price

By Hiawa23 on 6/10/2009 9:59:07 AM , Rating: 2

Cool (sarcasm)- how about a price drop on the GAMES Sony!!! You would think that Uncharted (2 years old) was made of gold being at $59.99 STILL!!!

I don't see that happening. Game sales are helping offset some of the losses, so not sure if you are going to find the game new for less than $60, other than specials. I got the game from Gamefly for $25

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RE: Price

By superdynamite on 6/10/09, Rating: 0

So ... no price cuts?

By Danger D on 6/9/2009 1:03:55 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Sony maintains that no price cuts are coming on the console, but some industry analysts say that Sony simply can’t cut the price of the PS3 considering that the console is still a money loser for the company.

So Sony says no price cuts are coming, but analysts say no price cuts are coming. I don't usually harp on errors, but this doesn't really read like a misprint. Am I missing something?

RE: So ... no price cuts?

By Danger D on 6/9/2009 1:04:29 PM , Rating: 2

Oh. Maybe "and" instead of "but".

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RE: So ... no price cuts?

By Totally on 6/9/2009 7:33:24 PM , Rating: 2

"also" works too

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I won't buy a console over $300. Bring on the price drop

By Jay2tall on 6/10/2009 10:23:51 AM , Rating: 2

I am currently an avid PC gamer. I never liked First Person Shooters or Real Time Strategies on a console. I currently have a PS2 for guitar hero and a few other games like GT4. I'm not ready to throw $400 at a new console and need to purchase a $50 controller and additional games. $500 right off the bat. If they dropped their price to $299 I think MANY people would jump onboard with the PS3. Look at the PS2, they are STILL selling games for it like 7 years after it launched. It's an investment. So they loose $150 per console, but once they are out there, people will buy BluRay DVD's and games. I saw a few photos of a NEW slim PS3 with a 120GB HD. Rumor has it they did a die shrink to the cell processor, which would reduce cost, and possibly save on a few other areas of manufacturing. If that is what it takes to make it $299, so be it. I'd really like to have a PS3 for BluRay movies and my racing, fighting games. But to me $400 isn't worth it. $100 is a controller and a game.

RE: I won't buy a console over $300. Bring on the price drop

By afkrotch on 6/11/2009 3:05:45 AM , Rating: 2

How much did you dump onto your computer to play games? Also why would you need to purchase a controller if it comes with one? Also of course you'll need to purchase games. Just like you would with any other console or PC. Sometimes you get a game with a vidcard or something, but they are either crap or the vidcard alone costs as much as a console.

Me, I'm a gamer. PC, 360, PSP, and PS3. Everything has it's plus and minus. I get my 2D fighter action on consoles, as they suck on PC and I would have to get a controller for it, if I felt like playing on a PC.

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Gamescom?

By wlodi on 6/9/2009 3:30:57 PM , Rating: 3

My prediction is (if it's really happening) - this may be one of the "big" Sony's announcements at Gamescom 2009 in Cologne. It starts on August 19.

Slim version is coming

By haukionkannel on 6/10/2009 1:27:55 PM , Rating: 2

Sony is still losing guite a lot money with each PS3 sold, so my ques is that we will not see prize cut untill maybe the slim version of PS3 comes out...
All in all only Sony knows and they are not gonna tell it to us untill they really make it happen.

PS3 Slim rumoured for September

By Dribble on 6/11/2009 5:53:27 AM , Rating: 2

So the price cut in August is probably real to offload all the fat PS3's as the moment the slim arrives no one will want them:
http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2009/6/10/son...

Hope its true this time

By Suntan on 6/10/2009 9:35:05 AM , Rating: 1

Early August would line up nicely for me. Late July would be better. I hope the rumor mill is correct on this one.

-Suntan

Yeah right

By Crusty on 6/9/09, Rating: -1

RE: Yeah right

By smackababy on 6/9/2009 1:02:47 PM , Rating: 2

Granted, if I was in any marketing posistion I would never announce a price cut months before I did one. It makes perfect sense to deny cuts, then make them. Why halt all sales of whatever you're selling until you cut the price?

btw, I didn't read the article either.

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RE: Yeah right

By Danger D on 6/9/2009 1:06:02 PM , Rating: 4

You don't need to read it. The headline pretty much offers as much detail as the article.

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RE: Yeah right

By zaki on 6/9/2009 1:37:53 PM , Rating: 4

yeah dailytech insists on writing a god damn history essay before getting to the bloody news....didnt used be this way...was to the point, must be having some literary insecurity about their reporting....what a pity

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RE: Yeah right

By geddarkstorm on 6/9/2009 3:36:42 PM , Rating: 3

If you want straight up news, go to Reuters. What Dailytech seems to try to do is actually add some analysis to the article. If it succeeds well in your opinion or not, is completely up to you.

I like it: history and perspective added to current events sheds a lot more light on both what's happening and where things might go. Of course, for PS3 price cut rumors, that isn't important to me, hah.

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RE: Yeah right

By Danger D on 6/11/2009 11:53:56 AM , Rating: 2

Uh, yeah, that is what I was expressing. My opinion that in this case they did not succeed.

I don't want straight up news; I want DailyTech to offer a little more here than just a headline with window dressing. You're arguing against a point I didn't make.

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RE: Yeah right

By KingstonU on 6/9/2009 1:06:01 PM , Rating: 2

The 360 and PS3 have had numerous price cuts and change of skus in the least 2-3 years. But has Nintendo dropped the price of the Wii or changed the sku at all since it's introduction?

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RE: Yeah right

By StevoLincolnite on 6/9/2009 1:38:20 PM , Rating: 2

Nintendo hasn't needed to drop it's price, it's been selling like hot-cakes since it's inception practically, plus it has made money on every console sold.

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RE: Yeah right

By smackababy on 6/9/2009 2:02:09 PM , Rating: 2

I estimate Nintendo is about to hit the saturation point where everyone in the world who wants a Wii has one. They have got to be close.

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RE: Yeah right

By Sanity on 6/9/2009 3:17:10 PM , Rating: 2

I've only had two reasons for not getting a Wii yet. First, there haven't been any "I have got to play that" games for it. Second, the damn thing is bright white, which would look like crap next to the rest of my black electronic equipment. That may seem like a poor excuse, but already having a PS3 and 360, (both black) I was in no big rush to get a Wii.

With the release of the black Wii that was announced, I may go ahead and get it. I'd bet there are quite a few people who will buy a black Wii, that either didn't buy the white one, or would rather have a black one than the white one they got. I think Nintendo has plenty of selling left to do.

I also think the PS3 will start selling like crazy with a $100 price cut.

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RE: Yeah right

By Manch on 6/9/2009 4:59:03 PM , Rating: 2

The Black Wii: It's not too boku!

Seriously tho, all my electronic gear is different colors, and it does look like crap. I'm probably going to paint them to match.

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RE: Yeah right

By inperfectdarkness on 6/9/2009 9:31:33 PM , Rating: 2

or you just put them all in an entertainment center with tinted glass. problem solved.

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RE: Yeah right

By inperfectdarkness on 6/9/2009 9:47:09 PM , Rating: 2

on 2nd thought...no.

it actually gives me a stiffy seeing all my nintendo's lined up in chronological order in front of my tv.

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RE: Yeah right

By wempa on 6/11/2009 8:52:08 AM , Rating: 2

I don't know about that. The original PS2 sold like 100 million units. The Wii is not even close to that. However, the numbers show that the Wii does not have a high "attach rate". That means that most people are buying a Wii, but very few games and/or accessories for it. So, while the Wii is selling more consoles, the PS3 and Xbox 360 are selling more of everything else.

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RE: Yeah right

By Aquila76 on 6/9/2009 1:09:16 PM , Rating: 1

Sony just stated at E3 that they would not drop the price (see below). This article is BS of the stankiest order.

http://www.dailytech.com/Sony+Says+no+PS3+Price+Cu...

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RE: Yeah right

By omnicronx on 6/9/2009 1:40:41 PM , Rating: 2

As posters already pointed out, Sony is not going to officially tell everyone there will be a pricedrop 3 months from now. Otherwise nobody is going to buy a PS3 until then, which is exactly what lowering the price is suppose to jumpstart. I would not take either comment seriously, the sony Rep is not going to tell the truth regardless, and the source mentioned in this article cannot be verified.

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RE: Yeah right

By nevermore781 on 6/9/2009 6:16:41 PM , Rating: 2

yep. Ive said all along since the PS3 came out that im waiting for an official price drop of about 100 bucks or so. Sony officially announcing a price drop this early would have been like ATT saying 3 months ago "We're officially going to have an iphone for 99 bucks at WWDC, just wait to buy it."

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RE: Yeah right

By Belard on 6/10/2009 3:03:17 AM , Rating: 2

Same with everyone else... like XBOX's pricedrop... new video card price cuts, etc etc..

It'll happen when it happens. We'll get about 1~5 days warning when the SONY makes it official to their sales channels so they can prep the ADS for their circulars.

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RE: Yeah right

By initialised on 6/11/2009 4:24:07 PM , Rating: 2

Sony's real competitor is the standalone BluRay player. Until the last few months I hadn't seen any decent ones for less than a PS3. Now many are moving to 60% cheaper than the PS3 but like PS3 games there doesn't seem to be a price drop in HD films.

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"If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that's been on shelves for more than five minutes, I'll give you 1,200 bucks for it." -- SCEA President Jack Tretton