No PS3 price cut this year, says Hirai
- Posted October 13th, 2008 at 05:01 EDT by Mike Harradence
- 2,579 views
- 25 Comments
Kazuo Hirai, President of Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEI), has confirmed that the platform holder will not be lowering the price of the PlayStation 3 before Christmas, believing the console’s current price point offers a “very good value proposition".
Speaking with Financial Times.com, Hirai commented, "The answer is yes, if you're asking, 'Are these the prices we're going with this Christmas?'" “When you really compare apples to apples, then I think we have a very good value proposition."
Furthermore, Hirai believes that the videogames industry as a whole will prove resilient in the face of the recent economic slump, as punters opt to purchase cheap home entertainment as opposed to going out.
“As long as we can generate excitement, then we will be less affected than other industries,” he added, though not before admitting "we're getting to the point where price becomes more important".
Despite this, analysts have raised concerns as to whether or not Sony can appeal to the more mainstream consumer this holiday season, particularly in light of Microsoft’s recent price drops to its Xbox 360 games console.
Comments
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A_Ninja |
Arabia_Ninja- 5:24am BST - October 13th, 2008
- 4
yah .. it worth every penny ... but most of the the pepole dont know that ... and they will go for the console that is low in price and the technically a next -gen ==> Xbox 360 ... so like @2 said ... this holyday season will be 4 the 360 ( between next-gens only)
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bilbo_bobbins |
bilbo_bobbins- 5:28am BST - October 13th, 2008
- 6
Sony will say no until they do lower the price, because people will obviously hold off from purchasing one at the higher price...
I think it would be a mistake for them not to lower the price this christmas, surely alot of people will buy the cheaper alternative??? Credit crisis and all??
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chubacca
- 6:27am BST - October 13th, 2008
- 7
People already have more costs like high petrol & food costs to deal with so I think they will choose the lower cost option. People are starting to penny pinch and for good reason - the economy is pretty bad.
I have to admit that I'm buying fewer games than this time last year, and those that I do pay for, I'm looking at second hand titles that cost about 30 - 40% less than new. I think Sony needs to hurry up and push out better budget "Platinum" games and do some aggressive merchandising - Their presence on store shelves isn't very big.
They also need to win back more share of the software titles and to do that they will have to look at lowering the price of the console soon. Loosing Tekken and Final Fantasy is a sign of the times - and it could get even worst for us if they have a bad Christmas season.
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Odium_Generis_Humani
- 7:26am BST - October 13th, 2008
- 8
They are s-c-r-e-w-e-d, period. They can't drop the price, or they would have already. They have to ride out the storm.
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that1guy |
Go2Guy- 9:36am BST - October 13th, 2008
- 10
im not saying that its not worth what you pay, i bought my 60gb for $600 and i thought it was worth it b/c i was thinking long term. people normally with go with what is cheaper and thats why i think we need atleast some type of price drop... doesnt have to be $100 but like $50 or something to show that for $50 over the 360 u get 60gb of extra hard drive, wireless internet, and a blu-ray player. or they need to do better advertising to make people more informed about the value
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Arimax
- 10:30am BST - October 13th, 2008
- 11
I guess you guys might as well put into the category of buying the cheapest next-gen. Cause you guys say $400 isn't alot, but when you think about what you can buy with that $400 it is alot of money. If fact as a good example you can buy 2 iphones for that price.
Another is though Sony needs to do some better marketing of their product, and also they need to explain what Blu-ray really is over DVD.
Cause which would you buy if you had both, but the DVD version cost $10 less?
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markwesker
- 10:49am BST - October 13th, 2008
- 13
The wii proved that its all about price.yeh we all know that the ps3 is worth every penny but alot of people dont know that or do know but still not gonna pay out that much money. end of the day without a price cut the 360 install base will grow grow n grow,this does nothing to convince devs to make ps3 exclusive games/content or making the ps3 lead development console in multi plat games.besides chrimbo price cuts r normal.
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Wuffer |
Fodkoen- 11:21am BST - October 13th, 2008
- 14
Well to bad. Xbox 360 may win the holidays then :( No doubt about the ps3 being a better machine (have both), but moms/dads looking at next gen machines will prob. choose the (on paper) much cheaper Xbox. Even though Playstation is a strong brand.
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solidoussnk
- 1:10pm BST - October 13th, 2008
- 15
I think Sony is shooting itself in the foot. A price cut would be perfect for this holiday season for several reasons. 1) Sony has the title line up, SOCOM, LBP, Resistance 2, Motor Storm, and Feb. next year Killzone 2. versus Xbox 360 Gears of War 2. I'm sure Sony are banking on the title line up to move consoles, but to the everyday consumer who is unfamiliar with these games the console price point speaks more. 2)Earlier this year Sony spoke of a 45nm Cell processor which should reduce manufacture cost where is that? Sony has put itself in the same position as last year and I'm sure once all is said and done 360s will sell more, thus increasing there installment base. If they were to get ahead and I mean distinctley they would take the loss on manufacturing the unit in hopes of increasing volume and installed users through a price cut this season. 3) Sony with its great success earlier this year in establishing the Blu-Ray format should be wary that some buys and perhaps a vast majority of them will be on the hunt for a Blu-Ray player offerring a unit that is affordable as in $250 would appeal to alot of folks.
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RandomBeef
- 1:23pm BST - October 13th, 2008
- 16
"economic slump", credit crunch, econoic downfall, house prices dropping. Can things get any worse?
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Rav3nas |
Hawkeyes315- 1:43pm BST - October 13th, 2008
- 17
Look I care about value proposition as much as the next guy...Point being I have a Metal Gear Solid Gun Metal PS3. It has a lot of value proposition to ME. That being said, that doesn't mean consumers also don't care about price, ESPECIALLY THE CASUAL CONSUMER. All casual consumers care about is price, literally.
Sony needs to rethink this.
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thekingtut |
thekingtut- 3:29pm BST - October 13th, 2008
- 18
What is Kutagari doing now?
Well, sony just has to make up its mind about the sku and focus on making that one cheaper to manufacture. Between SONY and Microsoft, Microsoft will sell more this holiday season due to the fact that you can buy two 360's for the price of a ps3.
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LegendaryAim |
LegendaryAim- 5:29pm BST - October 13th, 2008
- 19
You get what you pay for and we paid for a long time investment whereas the Wii and 360 are already reaching their limit and theres already talks of a new next gen and believe me do you think consumers like to hear that after only a few years your console will be come completely obsolete and your going to have to buy a newer more expesive model case in point 360 is done and 720 is in the works and Wii 2 is already being in the process of being finalized
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ladellb
- 8:14pm BST - October 13th, 2008
- 21
Hirai needs a head check. $400 is "not" cheap. He makes a six figure salary, and likely didn't pay a penny for his PS3. To the average person, that's a lot of money. The PS3 may be worth $400, but not $500... and we're all past the fact that it has a BR player inside. You can pick one up now for $250, so there's no logic to keeping that price point for PS3. Shave-off 50 bucks, and sales will soar. Not a smart decision. Times have changed since the PS2.
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PS3sR2DEAR
- 2:34am BST - October 14th, 2008
- 23
Sorry - I WILL NOT buy a 'Crippled' Console, its over-priced !
Give us the PS3 you promised us $ony, you stubborn F#$%^s
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chubacca
- 5:45am BST - October 14th, 2008
- 24
Thats a very good point - Lots of my friends still comment that the PS3 is crippled with no backwards compatibility. Most use to have a PS2 but they think Sony betrayed them so they have not purchased a PS3. I remember a year ago when DMC4 whent multi platform - most of my PS2 buddies started becoming Xbots one by one. I was shocked by us loosing Ace Combat (Ive every game on PSX & PS2) but Tekken turning its back of PS3 has me really worried. The publishers all sense PS2 base is not upgrading to PS3. Its a big problem.
Sony needs to fix that and put back BC now and drop the price this Xmas before the PS2 base moves to XBox 360 or the Wii. We are loosing this war - (it's probably lost now), but if more publishers & gamers loose interest in "Playstation" we are all screwed. They need to stop messing about and seriously build the user base fast!
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princevegeta1980
- 9:30am BST - October 15th, 2008
- 25
I also think that not having backward compabilty was a bad idea since those which have many ps2 games can't keep them if they change consoles but thats not the only reason why the ps3 isn't selling well (apart from it's price tag). Sony having sçr@ped eyetoy games, these games were excellent for casual gamers on ps2 and the eyetoy is way better than any wii-mote, sony should try and win back this market by proposing the right software, games for the whole familly!
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