A rumor is going around that Sony will drop the price on its PlayStation3 in the next week. CB Games documents some of the sources of the rumor that may have started with a Circuit City add for $499 on the 15th of July. To squelch the rumors Sony President Ryoji Chubachi made an official statement that Sony has no plans to drop the price of the PlayStation3.
Officially Sony says there will be no price cut. So, that pretty much squashes the chances of a quick savings on a PS3 in the next week or so. But it does seem that a price cut sometime before the Christmas season (or just in time for the capitalist holiday) would just make a smart business decision for Sony. Not just out of competition with Wii and Xbox 360 – both cheaper and both PS3 competitors have moved more units thus far.
Sony’s own games are just starting to hit the market and selling games is always the ‘real’ reason to sell consoles at very low and even negative profit margins. But an extra dimension on this generation of game consoles is the next generation optical disc format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray. Dropping the price on the PS3 will offer deeper penetration for the Blu-ray market. Currently the perception is that Blu-ray is taking over in the game for the HD disc.
A price cut on PS3 by Christmas can help Sony in so many other markets. It’s Blu-ray, HD-gaming, HDMI ready could be a catalyst to sell Sony’s own movies, Sony’s HDTVs in a positive. Get on that Sony… get marketing to offer mutual discounts on Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Blu-ray titles and Bravia flat panels with every PS3 sold. You could even stand to throw in a few of those UMDs you have kicking around not doing much these days.
