backtop

Print E-mail del.icio.us 93 comment(s) - last by yacoub.. on Jul 13 at 8:28 AM

The 60GB PlayStation 3 will soon sell for the same price as its late 20GB sibling

The Circuit City ad showing the PS3 selling for $499 (Source: Kotaku)
Retailer information points to a PS3 price drop to $499 coming July 12

With price being many consumers’ sticky issue on the PlayStation 3, Sony appears to be adjusting the price of its new games machine sooner than expected.

A member of the DVD Talk forum acquired a Circuit City flyer for the week of July 15, and posted a number of gamer-specific deals. Of extreme interest is the retailer’s price on the PlayStation 3, listed at $499.99 after a $100 “price break.”

It was originally unclear if the $499 price point was just a specific to Circuit City, but a merchandising manager at a supposedly large retailer confirmed with GameDaily that the price drop is to be retail-wide on July 12, with the first wave of ads to promote the new PS3 price starting July 15.

It is now believed that Sony Computer Entertainment America will be officially announcing the new $499 price of the PlayStation 3 at its E3 press conference next week, scheduled for the morning of July 11.

The $499 price point was previously occupied by the 20GB version of the PlayStation 3. Sony launched its console in November 2006 with two variants – one at $499 and the other a $599 – with the more expensive version featuring a larger, 60GB hard drive and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Citing reasons related to consumer demand, Sony in April discontinued the $499 20GB PlayStation 3 leaving only the more expensive $599 60GB model on the market. Since that move, the issue of price has cropped up in various interviews with Sony executives.

Sony president Ryoji Chubachi said to the Financial Times, “We are re-examining our [PS3] budgeting process in terms of pricing and volume. Sales assumptions change and the market is competitive. We are in the midst of revisiting our strategy for the PS3.”

More recently, Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer said in June regarding the PS3’s price, “That is what we are studying at the moment. That’s what we are trying to refine.”

Puzzlingly, amidst all the evidence of a pending price cut, Chubachi told Reutersearlier today, “At present we have no plans [to cut the PS3 price].”

Although the upcoming new price of 60GB PlayStation 3 is the same as the discontinued 20GB version, which represents little actual savings for gamers looking for an even cheaper way onto Sony’s new game platform, those interested in the console’s high-definition movie playback capability will find some extra value.

All PlayStation 3 (and various other Blu-ray player) purchases made from July 1 to September 30 are entitled to five free Blu-ray Disc movies as part of a special promotion from the Blu-ray Disc Association.

The upcoming $499 price will also put the PlayStation 3 on par with Sony’s cheapest standalone Blu-ray Disc player, the BDP-S300.

When the PlayStation 3 first launched last year, it was an able movie player, but it lacked several important features of standalone machines – for example, DVD upscaling. Thanks to regular firmware updates from Sony, however, the PlayStation 3 is now able to upscale DVD movies up to a 1080p resolution – putting it on easily on par with the best Blu-ray Disc players on the market.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Its about time
By mdogs444 on 7/6/2007 8:34:55 AM , Rating: 2
Regardless of Sony saying that they have no plans to drop the price, they know it has to be this way in order to compete. When losing out to a console (xbox 360) whos return rate is through the roof, its not a good sign.

I know many were skeptical on buying the PS3 because of price, limited games, & BD/HD format war - but many were also skeptical on buying the 360 with the RROD issue and only a 1 yr warranty. Now that sony is dropping price to $499, and MS has extended the warranty to 3 yrs.....which becomes the better deal, and which will see higher increased sales?




RE: Its about time
By 05SilverGT on 7/6/2007 8:46:03 AM , Rating: 2
I agree it's about time however; there still aren't many games worth buying that aren't already on 360. I'm tempted to buy a PS3 but I just need some more content first. On a side note I feel for all the 360 users with issues. Knock on wood I haven't had an issue with my launch Prem or Elite. These kinds of problems aren't exclusive to MS though. The new Sharp Aquos LCDs have a banding issue and so far Sharp has sent me five replacement sets with the same problem. Defects can happen anywhere.


RE: Its about time
By isorfir on 7/6/2007 8:53:33 AM , Rating: 2
This might not tip the scales for current 360 owners to buy a PS3, but anyone on the fence has even more of a reason to go with a PS3 now.

For roughly the same price as an Xbox 360 Elite, you also get a Blu-ray Player, user replaceable hard drive and Built-in wireless, all without the worry of RRoD? Nice.


RE: Its about time
By jay401 on 7/6/2007 8:57:52 AM , Rating: 2
If only it had the library of games the X360 has...


RE: Its about time
By LtFarva on 7/6/2007 10:17:19 AM , Rating: 2
Other than Gears, Mass Effect, and Halo3, I can just get almost everything else I want on the PC.

What's even more confusing is that I'm a big RPG fan, always love a good colsole RPG, so you would assume the Japan-made PS3 would be the choice for me, but right now, I have no idea.


RE: Its about time
By jpeyton on 7/6/2007 6:38:06 PM , Rating: 1
Poor Sony; when we first heard of the $499/$599 launch price, I already knew they were doomed.

Expect the $100 price drop to increase sales 20-25% to 100,000 units/month in N. America. Still about half the XBOX 360's numbers and about 1/3 the Wii's numbers.


RE: Its about time
By Chillin1248 (blog) on 7/8/2007 12:08:17 AM , Rating: 2
Would be nice to see a teeny price drop over here where I live (Israel). A PS3 costs roughly $1,100-$1,400 USD here and a Wii costs ~$300-400 USD last I checked. Tom Correlis can correct me if I'm wrong.

-------
Chillin


RE: Its about time
By Rage5469 on 7/8/2007 1:02:24 AM , Rating: 2
Um, try PS1 and PS2 games in this library and you have quite a bit of a selection. As for PS3 games, try over 60 that are out right now. And don't forget the downloadable games in the Store...cheap ones, but fun ones...ask my wife..heh heh.


RE: Its about time
By FITCamaro on 7/8/2007 8:57:39 PM , Rating: 2
Now we're adding in legacy titles to a console's game library?


RE: Its about time
By cscpianoman on 7/6/2007 9:13:20 AM , Rating: 5
And I bet sometime within the next month or so Microsoft will announce a price drop.


RE: Its about time
By mdogs444 on 7/6/2007 9:26:59 AM , Rating: 1
After they just announced an extended 3 year warranty and 1 billion dollar deduction they have to take for console fixing?

Highly doubt that as they just took a huge hit. I personally think a 3 year warranty and $399 is better than $299 and 1 year warranty. Especially now that they have confirmed "changes" to the 360 to help prevent hardware failure (65nm? new heatsink design?)


RE: Its about time
By Araxen on 7/6/2007 11:38:15 AM , Rating: 2
It's a 3 year warranty for a system with a design flaw. After 3 years, you'll be buying another 360. So you'll end up paying more for the 360 in the long run.


RE: Its about time
By mdogs444 on 7/6/07, Rating: 0
RE: Its about time
By ObscureCaucasian on 7/6/2007 11:58:20 AM , Rating: 5
With the losses both Sony and MS are taking on this generation, it's not hard to see both companies making this generation last 6-7 years. The sooner they rush to a new generation the sooner they get losses again.


RE: Its about time
By Verran on 7/6/2007 12:58:17 PM , Rating: 5
This is a very good point, but it's also indicative of M$ and Sony's lame outlook on the console market as a whole. In 6-7 years, the current hardware will be a joke, but they'll continue to push it because they buried themselves so hard at launch. The console buyers are the ones who suffer.

This "strategy" is one of the main reasons that Nintendo was able to sieze such a strong market share. Most people don't look at a console as a decade-long investment. They see it as a fun toy.


RE: Its about time
By ObscureCaucasian on 7/6/2007 2:39:02 PM , Rating: 4
That means either after 6-7 years the Wii will be incredibly outdated, or Nintendo will be the first mover in the next generation, delivering a system w/ better graphics than the PS3/360, but staying fairly modest for its time.


RE: Its about time
By Acid Rain on 7/6/2007 4:26:11 PM , Rating: 1
"The console buyers are the ones who suffer."

I totally disagree.
in 6 years they'll get for $200 a gaming experience who is still unmatched by any other piece of hardware they can get for the same amount (not counting other consoles). now they get for $400-600 a gaming experience that will last them longer then a high-end computer that costs 2-3 times as much. honestly PS2 after 7 years (7!) is delivering a gaming experience a 7 years old high-end computer would never deliver.

this is the inherit advantage of having a specific, widely used, hardware platform to develop for - so if the "buyers" are looking for gaming experience - they are aren't suffering at any time-point by purchasing a high-end console in my view.


RE: Its about time
By Acid Rain on 7/6/2007 4:28:58 PM , Rating: 2
actually a PS2 cost $120 (not 200) for a year now so that might be PS3 price in 6 years.