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[bucko]

From gamesindustry.biz:

QUOTE

Sony's decision to reduce the price of the PlayStation 3 in Japan before the console has even launched has been branded "ridiculous" by a Japanese financial expert.

The outburst comes following Sony's announcement at the Tokyo Game Show that it is due to cut the Japanese price of the 20GB version of the console from 62,790 yen (421 euro) to 49,980 yen (335 euro).

"It's ridiculous to decide to cut the price before they start selling the PlayStation 3," said Yoku Ihara, head of equity research at Retela Crea Securities, speaking to Bloomberg.
"They may cut the price again if sales don‘t go well," he added.

What the f*ck, hes complaining at a price cut, it's better than increasing the price for f*ck sake. Man I hate these sort of people, I see there point but there view is just so fucked up. It's a good thing! There is nothing wrong with lowering the price before it comes out.

[cr4ck3rj4ck]

From a corporate business financial standpoint it is a bad idea.

For cunsumers, this is good news .

[dvsone]

Why would you price cut if there is going to be such short supply that it will sell out anyway?

Lets just throw some more money into the fire. From a business point of view, it's insane.

Sony is smoking crack.

[KAGE360]

QUOTE(dvsone @ Sep 22 2006, 11:07 AM)

Why would you price cut if there is going to be such short supply that it will sell out anyway?

Lets just throw some more money into the fire. From a business point of view, it's insane.

Sony is smoking crack.

you hit the nail on the head.  the analyst is correct, why bother dropping the price when the system will sell out anyways?  this is a bad move for sony, regardless of any fanboy thoughts, because they are already losing enough money per console.  with their current price they are set to lost 1.2 billion+ within a year, sony can not afford to lose money like microsoft.  this price drop will only raise the lose factor.

this also shows a sign of fear or lack of confidence.  its obvious that this is in response to nintendo's (and possibly MS') low cost to the system and many in japan predicting sony to lose it's #1 spot in japan.

yes this is a good move for the consumers, but this benefits us in no way.  its for japan only and may create a bigger backlash from the other regions.

[thepissedoffman]

What I think is really scarey is that Sony is letting stores charge whatever they want for the PS3. Marky my words people will be paying $1,000 for these at the store in Japan. I just hope that never happens here in the US because that will mean I will never get a system at launch again.

[cr4ck3rj4ck]

QUOTE

Sony is letting stores charge whatever they want for the PS3

Any retailer has the freedom to charge whatever they want for anything they sell. Sony's announced prices are MSRPs, or Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price. In a perfect world, this is the price that Sony wants to get for their system. Sony did not "allow" retailers to sell it for an inflated price, they have that right as a seller. Game Consoles are sold to most retailers (such as gamestop) at a flat bulk-buy price, usually cheaper-per-console than the MSRP, but not by much.

Retailers usually see very little profits from the sale of game consoles, but instead from the sale of warranties and accessories. Since this is the case, if the opportunity presents itself to inflate the price of a game system, they will do so.

[Deftech]

QUOTE(cr4ck3rj4ck @ Sep 22 2006, 11:00 AM)

From a corporate business financial standpoint it is a bad idea.

For cunsumers, this is good news .

agreed and anyone that says otherwise is clueless

Whats his name better not come in and say that initially, its a good thing for sonys pocketbook.

[redwolf]

QUOTE(cr4ck3rj4ck @ Sep 22 2006, 04:26 PM)

Any retailer has the freedom to charge whatever they want for anything they sell

won't be surprised normal retail shop charging twice at first    anyways, fuck Japan with their bullshit price cut, they even got price cut for X360  

[KAGE360]

QUOTE(thax @ Sep 22 2006, 11:45 AM)

So even though all of the PS3s will sell out, by lowering the price you enduce more consumers to wait to buy your product because of the lower price.

this is only true for the region, this may provoke some buyers to wait in other regions for fear that they would get screwed buying a system just for the price to drop soon after.

we have learned many times over, that people will buy what they want to buy regardless.  this is in no way good move for sony

[Deftech]

QUOTE(KAGE360 @ Sep 22 2006, 11:51 AM)

this is only true for the region, this may provoke some buyers to wait in other regions for fear that they would get screwed buying a system just for the price to drop soon after.

we have learned many times over, that people will buy what they want to buy regardless.  this is in no way good move for sony

that price will come down, afterall they arent seeing the system until 2011  

[incognegro]

Well I don't necessarily think its a bad idea really.....remember japan is the most price conscious of the three major markets, so the lower the better. Therefore, I think sony is just scared of other companies having lower prices than them so they want to look competitive. The mistake to me really is the decision to go public and admit its a "price drop" before launch. They didn't have a concrete price for japan before so they should've just announce it as the "official" price so it doesn't look bad. Are they gonna lose way more money than we originally thought because of this? HELL YES!!

[Kira Yamoto]

My opinion is that the more consoles in people's homes the better.  With such a small supply to each reigon at launch, they're pretty sure to sell out AT LAUNCH.  But remember that Sony is not planning on supplying consumers the same way MS did.  Sony will be shipping more units out over time for each of the original projected supply for US and JPN until the end of 2k6.

It was mentioned before that it was to prevent market conversion.  Since this is done on the 20GB unit, and not the 60gb unit, its for price conscious consumer.  If he/she doesn't get what he wants, then he/she might move to the other console for the time being.  Sony plans on shipping more units over the course of the rest of 2k6, so the idea is to get the consumer's attention locked on PS3, especially at a time where it's high in demand, and user opinions are floating around the world at a rapid pace.  Believe it or not, but conversion happens pretty easily and pretty quickly.  Not a good move for shareholders, but a great move towards consumers that might have switched to 360 or Wii.

[cr4ck3rj4ck]

QUOTE

My opinion is that the more consoles in people's homes the better

Sony would smile apon this statement.

" " - Sony Computer Entertainment

[thepissedoffman]

QUOTE(cr4ck3rj4ck @ Sep 22 2006, 11:26 AM)

Any retailer has the freedom to charge whatever they want for anything they sell. Sony's announced prices are MSRPs, or Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price. In a perfect world, this is the price that Sony wants to get for their system. Sony did not "allow" retailers to sell it for an inflated price, they have that right as a seller. Game Consoles are sold to most retailers (such as gamestop) at a flat bulk-buy price, usually cheaper-per-console than the MSRP, but not by much.

Retailers usually see very little profits from the sale of game consoles, but instead from the sale of warranties and accessories. Since this is the case, if the opportunity presents itself to inflate the price of a game system, they will do so.

I know what a MSRP is. Sony said that the higher-end PS3 will carry an "open price".

http://www.gamespot....ws/6158155.html


I know that the S in MSRP stands for “suggested” but you and I know that this number causes most retail outlets to sell close to that price. With Sony saying that the higher-end PS3 will carry an "open price" they are encouraging the price to become extremely inflated.

Why are they doing this? From what I have seen they have been trying to recreate everything that happened with the PS2's launch (I would too, it worked out great for them). One of those things is people paying 2-3 times the MSRP price because it gets tem plenty of news coverage. This "open price" only encourages this.

[cr4ck3rj4ck]

QUOTE

With Sony saying that the higher-end PS3 will carry an "open price" they are encouraging the price to become extremely inflated.

This "open price" statement is a PR stunt, and like you said, it's to drive demand. They are playing off of ignorance of the masses...it doesn't surprise me coming from Sony.