Ben-DutkaAre you wondering if Sony or Microsoft will drop the price of their consoles this year?
Well, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said both companies are waiting until Nintendo releases the retail cost of the Wii U.
He says that if the Wii U comes in at $300 and up, the PS3 and 360 will remain at their current price points. "When Nintendo makes a move, they [Sony and Microsoft] will respond accordingly," added Pachter. Before E3, it was widely believed we'd see at least one price drop announcement but it didn't happen and apparently, it's because the Wii U's price remains a secret.
As for the PlayStation Vita, Pachter doesn't expect a price cut until "November at the earliest" and likely "not until February." This sort of falls in line with what Sony boss Shuhei Yoshida recently said, about how the company's focus was on maximizing the unit's potential rather than cutting the price.
The PS3 is a steal at its current price.
Yeah, I got mine at launch for 600 and it was worth every penny
And what is his evidence that either company is waiting for Nintendo to do anything before making decisions?
I disagree with Pachter. I think that Sony knows that if they can somehow get the bottom tier PS3 to the $199.99 price point, it will be a big win for them in all markets. Plus I think that the know from their existing sales data that the higher priced SKU will sell well anyway, and even better when bundled. For Sony, there is an opportunity to gain significant sales in the next two years of the PS3's life – with a judicious price cut.
Vita won't get a headline price cut until it's a year old. but in the holiday season there will be Vita bundles that include an 8 or 16GB memory card and a game at $299.99 for the wifi, and $349.99 for the 3G version. These will effectively discount the Vita price by $50 in the holiday season, and then in the new year, the price cut to the base unit (and memory cards) will be made official. I figure that there will be a more or less 15% drop in prices of the Vita and memory cards which will translate to more or less $50 off the Vita itself.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 6/7/2012 11:39:57 PM
i have to agree. i do not see a price drop for the vita within the first year. they did not announce a price for that ac3 vita bundle and i bet its inline with what you said. dropping the price next year seems more likely. has there ever been a price drop on any playstation system within the first year? i really doubt it but i am not sure.
I agree for PS3 to drop the price to $199 this year. This is because we all assume PS4 is releasing next year. It'll be smart to rake in PS3 sales before PS4 start stealing the attention.
thank you pachter for yet again stating the obvious!
ps3 does not need a price cut.
its doing very well atm and $ony just started making a profit on the system so theres really no need to drop the price.
vita on the other hand…….
meh, I don't think MS or Sony needs to worry about what Nintendo does with their stuff. These guys(MS and Sony) can march to their own tune without caring about Nintendo and what they're playing around with. If anything, price drops will likely happen as a result of the looming next-gen consoles in 2013.
I don't think Sony has to worry about Nintendo, to me they just have to worry about what M$ going to put out.
Nintendo has gone so far off the deep end with the wii U that it's no longer competing with the xbox and ps3…it's a social entertainment console not a game console. Sure, it looks cool and has some intriguing features but nothing I can see a hardcore gamer loving.
Sony knows that, which is why (for the most part) their E3 presentation was focused on games, something hardcore gamers are really interested in.
Even if the WiiU itself isn't a threat (and, after the success of the Wii, I wouldn't be so sure), its price will appear next to that of the PS3 and 360 in flyers.
If the "new" system is as cheap as the "old" systems (despite the reality that it uses comparable tech), that's a problem for Sony and M$.
Everybody said the Wii was "cheap" despite the fact that it was the most expensive console of its true generation (PS2) and the most over-priced console of its supposed generation.
In other words, I think Pachter may be right (blind squirrel): there's no need to cut prices before the holidays unless Ninty announces a lower price point. I do expect Sony to drop the price pretty much as soon as unit production costs drop below $200, but I would also expect them to time the announcement to undercut Ninty (and/or M$), if possible.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 6/9/2012 4:12:29 PM