UK PS3 Prices Continue to Drop, Rumored Price Cut by October

[fitbabits]

The Register (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/04/11/ps3_price_drops/) is reporting that prices of the PS3 in the UK continue to drop at various retail locations. They also report that Sony may well be considering a $100 price drop in October of 2007.

Retailers WH Smith and Play.com have both knocked £25 off the price of the PS3, offering the console for just under £400.

But while the WH Smith offer was an Easter weekend-only deal that ended today, the Play.com offer will run for "the foreseeable future", a representative told Register Hardware and includes a free HDMI cable, free delivery and the movie Click on Blu-ray Disc.

The move comes as rumours began circulating that Sony is planning to kill off the 20GB version of the console. This has very little impact in the UK, since it wasn't available here anyway.

It was also claimed that Sony is planning to knock $100 off the cost of the PS3 by October. This would bring it into the same pricing territory as the forthcoming Xbox 360 Elite. The Elite will feature a 120GB hard drive, an HDMI port and cable, a wireless controller, an Xbox Live headset and a premium black finish. It's expected to begin arriving in stores in the US on 29 April.
It's worth noting that these price drops are retail-specific and not Sony mandated.

Also, a $100 price drop combined with the removal of the 20GB SKU would certainly help Sony gain some of the ground they've lost to Microsoft.

[Gorvi]

A $100 price drop would do wonders for the PS3, although $150 would probably be a much larger help. We'll see I guess.

[lost]

So is that a £100 price cut since we are talking about the UK?

[Serapth]

The Register (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/04/11/ps3_price_drops/) is reporting that prices of the PS3 in the UK continue to drop at various retail locations. They also report that Sony may well be considering a $100 price drop in October of 2007.


It's worth noting that these price drops are retail-specific and not Sony mandated.

Also, a $100 price drop combined with the removal of the 20GB SKU would certainly help Sony gain some of the ground they've lost to Microsoft.

No it wont. $100 price drop would be good for consumers, as Microsoft would follow suit in a heartbeat. Thing is, I dont think Sony wants to get into a pricing war with MS, as 1) MS has better cost control this generation 2) MS isnt losing money for a change 3) MS can lose more money then any other company.

One of the design goals of the 360 was to have better price control, initially and over the length of production. They can easily pace Sony dollar for dollar, its just with the 600$ price tag, they havent had to.

[fitbabits]

So is that a £100 price cut since we are talking about the UK?
No, it appears to be a dollar amount, based on the reasoning behind it (to compete with the Xbox 360 Elite).

[lost]

No, it appears to be a dollar amount, based on the reasoning behind it (to compete with the Xbox 360 Elite).

Ahh, it did seem a bit too good to be true.

[Kamalot]

I seem to remember PS3 sales numbers being reported for Europe. The numbers looked very good for the system. In fact, the numbers looked so good, it appeared to be doing far better than the competition.

Why would retailers be cutting the price to move units? A price cut normally appears if there is a new model coming or if there is a problem moving units through retail to customers.

I highly doubt a new model PS3 is coming this soon after launch. Are retailers having trouble moving units off of shelves this soon after launch?

[Kamalot]

Sony could quickly introduce a $110 'price drop' by making the 20 gig model available.

[CaptStu]

I seem to remember PS3 sales numbers being reported for Europe. The numbers looked very good for the system. In fact, the numbers looked so good, it appeared to be doing far better than the competition.

Why would retailers be cutting the price to move units? A price cut normally appears if there is a new model coming or if there is a problem moving units through retail to customers.

I highly doubt a new model PS3 is coming this soon after launch. Are retailers having trouble moving units off of shelves this soon after launch?

More supply doesn't equal more demand. Simple economics.

[Serapth]

Sony could quickly introduce a $110 'price drop' by making the 20 gig model available.


They tried that, it didnt work.

Also, the 20 gig at 499$ was causing a greater loss then the 60gig at 599$. Somewhere around 30$ more, from what I read.

[Ghost Rider]

I seem to remember PS3 sales numbers being reported for Europe. The numbers looked very good for the system. In fact, the numbers looked so good, it appeared to be doing far better than the competition.

Why would retailers be cutting the price to move units? A price cut normally appears if there is a new model coming or if there is a problem moving units through retail to customers.

I highly doubt a new model PS3 is coming this soon after launch. Are retailers having trouble moving units off of shelves this soon after launch?

Well my opinion is just as you put it, that retailers are having trouble to move their stock, however, while I think it's because too many people baulk at the price compared to the 360 and Wii, its perfectly feasible that it could be because they have so much stock they can afford to and that it's not related to not enough people wanting it. But then if enough people wanted it they wouldn't have too much stock.... :confused: hmm. I think I succeeded in confusing myself...

[IrishWhiskey]

Also, a $100 price drop combined with the removal of the 20GB SKU would certainly help Sony gain some of the ground they've lost to Microsoft.[/I]Correction: A $100 price drop combined with the INCREASE of the 20GB SKU would certainly help Sony gain some of the ground they've lost to Microsoft.

Seriously, having a $400 PS3 would have been a great strategic advantage. I think the dropping of the 20-Gig SKU was a mistake, although I understand why they did it. If I were getting a PS3 I would get the 20Gig version.

[Karmakin]

Kamalot:The first week sales were good..even great. It's just that pretty much most of the people who wanted the system got it right off the bat, and sales since then (which wasn't a sell-out because of the supplies present), the number of sales has dropped like a rock.

[Kamalot]

Seriously, having a $400 PS3 would have been a great strategic advantage. I think the dropping of the 20-Gig SKU was a mistake, although I understand why they did it. If I were getting a PS3 I would get the 20Gig version.
I would get the 20 gig version as well. Wireless, card reader and slightly larger drive mean nothing to me. $100 means a lot to me.

[Mashidar]

If the PS3 does ever drop down to 399 I'd pick up one without thinking. My wife would make me sleep on the couch for awhile, but it would be worth it I'm sure. I don't think i'd pay 499 for the system though, so we will see what happens I guess.

[Rafer]

A $100 price drop would do wonders for the PS3, although $150 would probably be a much larger help. We'll see I guess.

It's already around $500 for the 60gb in Japan, and it's getting mauled there. And any price drop would probably be matched by Microsoft so they might be back to square one.

I wonder if they can be as aggressive with price cuts as they were with the PS1 (Japan launch $400, next year U.S. launch $300, seven months after that $200, all the while guys from Atari and Sega were calling it dumping because they said the system cost $500 to make).

[daps83777]

so considering that sony seems to not make the 20gb version anymore, regardless of what they say, it would make it so that PS3 is still $500 if they dropped the PS3 $100 usd. which is back to the 20gb price. where if there was still a 20gb version a $100 usd price drop would have made it $400 usd. so you get the supposedly better version for cheaper but the PS3 is still $200 more than the core 360, and thats only if ms didn't decide to counter with a price drop of there own.

[TheFlyingOrc]

It's the same story all over again - do they need to if they want to be more competitive? Yes. Can they? Depends on how fast they cost reduce the thing.

[Wyrm]

If there's two or three games worth owning and the system is 400 bucks, you might have sold me on a PS3. But, there are no games, and the system is still overpriced.

[MrChaz]

Virgin Megastores had £45 off on the launch weekend.

[silv]

We won't know until the numbers come out, but it appears that everyone who wanted one, already bought it.

[Metal Jesus]

A co-worker is letting me borrow his PS3 for a couple weeks...and I gotta say, I'm underwhelmed with the games out for it. Hopefully that will improve by this fall, but for now it is definitely NOT worth $600... I'll probably play some Resistence Fall of Man, and that's it.

[Talanvor]

Well, if they drop the price by $100 I'll pick one up, hopefully when that happens Lair and Heavenly Blade are out. God of War 3 too?! :D

[fitbabits]

Well, if they drop the price by $100 I'll pick one up, hopefully when that happens Lair and Heavenly Blade are out. God of War 3 too?! :D
Heavenly Sword, Talanvor... Heavenly Sword!

[Kamalot]

A co-worker is letting me borrow his PS3 for a couple weeks...and I gotta say, I'm underwhelmed with the games out for it. Hopefully that will improve by this fall, but for now it is definitely NOT worth $600... I'll probably play some Resistence Fall of Man, and that's it.
So, are trying to say you have a FREE PS3 and it isn't worth it?

[CptTripps]

We won't know until the numbers come out, but it appears that everyone who wanted one, already bought it.

I want one quite badly. But not until there are at least 10 worthwhile games and a price of $400.

[51|RandoM]

Oh man, ps3 is going to be just like the PSP. A year from now people will still be saying it has no games.

If you're going to play that card, at least extend it with "that I want to play."

[fitbabits]

Oh man, ps3 is going to be just like the PSP. A year from now people will still be saying it has no games.

If you're going to play that card, at least extend it with "that I want to play."
"Worthwhile" would imply, at least to me, that the caveat above includes games CptTripps would like to play.

[51|RandoM]

"Worthwhile" would imply, at least to me, that the caveat above includes games CptTripps would like to play.

I wasn't talking about him... which is why I did not quote him.

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

Oh man, ps3 is going to be just like the PSP. A year from now people will still be saying it has no games.

If you're going to play that card, at least extend it with "that I want to play."
On the other hand, why would anyone buy a system to play games only other people would play? It's fairly obvious what is meant.

[Johan]

I'm not sure if there's a bit of good news in this for Sony. For consumers, yes, but for Sony...ouch.

On the other hand, why would anyone buy a system to play games only other people would play?

Parents, for their kids?

Okay, I'm a wise-ass! :D

[Phades]

There's quite a few good games on the PS3 right now. Maybe not good "exclusive" games, but good games. I would think that most people picking up the system don't have an Xbox360 so wouldn't particularly care about a game being "exclusive."

Resistance, Motorstorm, Virtua Fighter 5, Call of Duty 3, NFS Carbon, Fight Night, Madden, Oblivion, Splinter Cell, Tony Hawk, Tiger Woods.... etc.

[Crenor]

Oohhh, I will wait until the price drop then to buy one

[Kamalot]

There's quite a few good games on the PS3 right now. Maybe not good "exclusive" games, but good games. I would think that most people picking up the system don't have an Xbox360 so wouldn't particularly care about a game being "exclusive."
But people DO care about saving $200.

[Jack B]

This information is puzzling. If the numbers given for the launch and week one are accurate the PS3 would seem to be selling very well. I know the week two numbers were off 82%, but that extrapolated those week two numbers still equaled almost 7m for Europe. The PS2's best year was 6.5m approx in Europe.

Is week three really that bad? I can't imagine it would be and even if it was the US retailers have had large inventories of 360's and PS3's in stock for a lot longer than 1 week of poor sales and haven't had dramatic price drops...

I think something is wrong with the numbers. Either launch day numbers or this is an anomaly, not caused by poor sales, but by something else.

I guess we need to see week 3,4, and 5 numbers to get a better guage, but something doesn't add up to me with this story.

[92miata]

what can sony do? i work at costco and everybody is looking for ps3's. but they don't want to spend. how do they cut the cost? include a coupon for a few free games? what do they need to do. i want nintendo, sony, and microsoft to all rule, gamers want the same.

WHAT THE HELL DO THEY NEED TO DO???????

[MrChaz]

This information is puzzling. If the numbers given for the launch and week one are accurate the PS3 would seem to be selling very well. I know the week two numbers were off 82%, but that extrapolated those week two numbers still equaled almost 7m for Europe. The PS2's best year was 6.5m approx in Europe.

The numbers quoted were units sold to stores not sold to consumers

[Jack B]

The numbers quoted were units sold to stores not sold to consumers

Hmmm, that would explain it, but I thought someone asked the question and we were told those numbers werer "sold to consumers".

If it was just sold to stores, then I wish we'd stop seeing all the "Sony Launch is Very Successful" stories using the 150,000 units numbers. Very misleading. I know we see those numbers from Sony and Microsoft, but after a period of time the percentage of shelf units in that number decreases to a smaller percentage. At launch shelf units could be anywhere from 0% to 50% or more.... We saw the previous week's stories about not having lines at the launch stores. Maybe that explains it. The launch units reported are sitting in big stacks at the stores. Still though, we have had big stacks in North America too for 360's and PS3's.

Who to believe??? Does anyone have "sold to consumer" numbers yet from the NPD equivilent in Europe?

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

Hmmm, that would explain it, but I thought someone asked the question and we were told those numbers werer "sold to consumers".
Yes, in one of the other threads they said it was "sold to customers numbers" because they came from another source than from Sony.

Didn't the week 3 numbers put PS3 sales at 17,000 units? I saw an article somewhere that was more about the Wii selling 25,000 units and compared to PS3 at 17,000 for the week. If that was true then PS3 had an 82% drop in week 2, and another 50% drop in week 3. That would explain the retailers wanting to sell stock.

Also, I wonder if Sony got most of the 650,000 sales through their most valued retailers (biggest chains) and the lesser retailers didn't see as many sales. Maybe they didn't see the same movement that the core retailers did and now want to get rid of inventory.

[Jack B]

Yes, in one of the other threads they said it was "sold to customers numbers" because they came from another source than from Sony.

Didn't the week 3 numbers put PS3 sales at 17,000 units? I saw an article somewhere that was more about the Wii selling 25,000 units and compared to PS3 at 17,000 for the week. If that was true then PS3 had an 82% drop in week 2, and another 50% drop in week 3. That would explain the retailers wanting to sell stock.

Also, I wonder if Sony got most of the 650,000 sales through their most valued retailers (biggest chains) and the lesser retailers didn't see as many sales. Maybe they didn't see the same movement that the core retailers did and now want to get rid of inventory.

The drops are dramatic, but the numbers still seem to be decent. Some of the retailers might just have a bit too much stock.

Once it settles down, I'd say 20k PS3's a week would be excellent numbers for the UK. The UK sold about 25% of the PS2 totals for Europe, so 20k a week would be 80k for Europe. In 52 weeks, that would be about 4m PS3's. An excellent number for year one considering the best PS2 year ever in Europe was about 6.5m.

Between 20k and 30k per week should be decent for the UK this year, IMO.