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It is still a mystery why Sony seems reluctant in lowering the PS3′s price. The last time that they slashed their prices back in October 2007, sale of PS3 consoles doubled the following month.
As of now, the PS3 is still lurking behind the Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox 360. And for good reason. There’s a huge disparity in terms of prices between the PS3 and these two other gaming consoles. Sure people still buy it, but at what level? Given that the PS3 costs so much more to manufacture, these things even out when considering economies of scale, something they won’t be able to get with the way their consoles are being priced.
And there’s another aspect to this one. When not so many people buy into the PS3 console, this means that there would also be not that many people buying the games that can only be played with the PS3. This creates a problem for gaming software developers. They would love to capture the PS3′s market of course but if they get more profit from the many Wii and Xbox users, then they would better be off concentrating on selling titles for other consoles, where they can get more sales volume.
Sony once led the gaming industry in terms of consoles sold. But lately reports from manufacturers say that the company is lagging in third place. The only time that PS3 consoles outsell both the Xbox and the Wii in a given month is when there’s a PS3 exclusive title looming in the horizon like Killzone 2.
Still, game developers cannot just ignore the PS3 as that would just mean opportunity loss for them. So they make games for all three consoles. And therein lies the dilemma for Sony. If you are a gamer for example, are you willing to shell out an additional $150 to play a certain game when you can play the same game in an Xbox or your PC?
Apparently not many people are willing to go that high, otherwise the PS3 will be leading the console race by now.
Source: Bloomberg
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About the Author
3WG has written 383 articles for Third World Geek.
good article, thanks for this useful info, I have dug and stumbled this article. I will keep visiting for more useful information.
definitely it will increase the number of sold items. but with the profit I'm not really sure
Weren pc's overtaking consoles as of 2008?
IMO that the only reason they should lower the price.
I completely agree. The Fat PS3 will be lower in price apparently, but the new Slim will be around $400 in the UK, which is way too steep, even for that one exclusive game.
IMO the prices are pretty solid right nwo
The price is very competitive now, If it goes much cheaper sony will be making a huge loss on each one!
The prices are definitely coming down now. I guess they have to in order to gain back the market share they have lost.