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SCEE president David Reeves has told MCV that PS3 will not drop in price next spring – as was rumoured recently – and that the machine is ahead of Xbox 360 by around 300,000 units in Europe.
“No we are not going to go down in price; neither are we going to go down in price on PS3 in spring time either. Absolutely not, whatever you might have heard to the contrary,” he said.
“Our strategy is very much value added.”
The exec added:
“I am confident that in PAL territories our installed base is 300,000 units ahead of Xbox 360.
“When we came into the industry we started at zero. And we had to have a model that offered price elasticity. As soon as we got the manufacturing price down on PSOne we lowered the price. Same with PS2. But we’re not doing that on PS3 – that’s not the model, even if people are expecting it.
“We’re relying on the fact that the industry will keep growing and while we might have a comparatively smaller share of the market we will have higher sales. PS3 is tracking where PS2 was at the same point in its life. The value added strategy will continue for some years to come.”
More through there.
Viewing 21 responses
Psychotext said:
“PS3 is tracking where PS2 was at the same point in its life.”
No.
Blerk said:
Wait… so… PSOne costs less to make, they charge less. PS2 costs less to make, they charge less. PS3 costs less to make, they… pocket the profits? And fuck you, Mr Customer, we know you’ll buy it anyway? Nice!
I can’t really believe the PS3’s tracking the same as the PS2 was at this point in its life. I’d love to see the figures for that, David.
DrDamn said:
Tracking from a very safe distance maybe?
TheDifficult3rdAlbum said:
This graph shows PS3 tracking around the same as PS2. Have also put in 360 for comparison.
http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=PS2®1=All&cons2=PS3®2=All&cons3=X360®3=All&weeks=156
By the way, your headline suggests he was talking about dropping PS3 altogether, not just the price…!
G1GAHURTZ said:
http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=PS2®1=All&cons2=PS3®2=All&cons3=X360®3=All&weeks=400
G1GAHURTZ said:
this graph gives a bit of a clearer pic of what the PS3 needs to do:
http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=PS2®1=All&cons2=PS3®2=All&cons3=X360®3=All&weeks=400
Psychotext said:
TheDifficult3rdAlbum – That chart has been broken since madeupchartz created it.
Look at the PS2 numbers around the current date (or change the number of weeks to 108). Should be something like 25m. Now look at the numbers that actually make up that.
PS2 America – 13.56m
PS2 Japan – 8.42m
PS2 Other – 12.57m
PS2 Total – 34.55m (9.27m more than the “all” number used)
PS3 America – 6.69m
PS3 Japan – 2.55m
PS3 Other – 8.33m
PS3 Total – 17.57m (Matches the “all” number used)
VGC is a joke… always has been, always will be.
Psychotext said:
Oh, and if you want a like for like comparison… here’s one using real numbers from NPD and Famitsu (US / Japan).
October 2002
PS2 US: 516k
PS2 Japan: 176k
PS2 Total: 692k
October 2008
PS3 US: 190k
PS3 Japan: 59k
PS3 Total: 249k
Or if you would rather compare on the same number of months since release you can look at the September 2002 numbers for the PS2:
September 2002
PS2 US: 516k
PS2 Japan: 187k
PS2 Total: 703k
deftangel said:
Selective statistics FTL. Most of the independent data shows reality to be somewhat different, funnily enough.
The PS3 will drop in Spring unless the Yen situation gets even worse. That’s perfectly possible mind.
deftangel said:
@Pyschotext – I’m sure Reeves will be speaking from the SCEE perspective, which makes such claims harder to prove either way.
Microsoft’s EU PR has been all about “the territories we care about” which would imply they are ignoring other territories they aren’t doing so well in! However, the momentum is unquestionably with them given the price drops. Whatever the true figures are, any PS3 lead will be taking a hit over Xmas.
It’s all a bit of a much of a muchness given the Wii anyway
Esha said:
I completely agree with Blerk on this. (Edit: I just realised that I’m doing this a lot lately. Can’t help it, the man makes sense.)
It’s really hard to get people to grasp why the PS3 is a great machine when most people can’t look past the price-tag, and I do understand that, and it is a shame. It’s disheartening telling people about LBP, a game that has come the closest that anything has to embracing Dadaism as a form of gaming entertainment, and then having them say “Oh, it’s PS3 … never afford that.”
If the PS3 really does cost that much less to make than sell (on a per unit basis) then I think it’s foolish of Sony to keep the price where it is. It’s making them money, granted, but it’s not making them as much money as it could, because so many are scared off by the price.
And from everyone I’ve talked to, price > fantastic games, and during the credit crunch … can’t blame ‘em.
Psychotext said:
deftangel: Unless you’re working for Chart Track / GFK it makes their claims impossible to prove. That’s what’s so bloody annoying about it. I seriously doubt it though… unless we’re suggesting that the 360 is doing better right now than the PS2 did back in the day.
Hmm…. no.
@Esha: I’m a huge fan of LBP, but “closest that anything has to embracing Dadaism as a form of gaming entertainment”. Seriously? If you’re suggesting that nothing else even vaguely comes close, then I might agree… but that doesn’t automatically mean that LBP is significantly closer to it either.
The only real place there’s any sort of relevance is the stickers / cutout aspect of LBP… but even taking that into consideration you completely have to ignore the wider ideals of the Dadaist movement and look at it purely from an artistic standpoint. Not to mention that any Dadaist worth their salt would find an expensive games console particularly Bourgeois.
morriss said:
They’ll drop it. Or there’ll be bundles with like 98 games, 15 controllers and, yes AND a HD cable IN THE BOX!!
Nah! Will never happen will it?
Esha said:
That’s a fair point, PT.
Also a fair point: The user levels in LBP aren’t really all that playable, they’re just there to marvel at. In most cases, they’re just “interactive” at best, and it’s usually just fun to marvel at their ingenuity instead. Often that ingenuity is visual and the interactivity doesn’t take away from that so much.
There are some levels in LBP which are great to play but boring to look at, but I just don’t get the same feeling for the game out of those.
And as strange as anyone may find it, I prefer the strange levels in LBP. /shrug
So in my usual roundabout way, that’s what I was getting at.
Edit: To wit. There are many levels in LBP which bring about the following reaction … THIS MAKES NO SENSE, IT’S POINTLESS. But it’s very pretty, I like it a lot, I’m having fun, and oddly I want more of it.
I’m not saying it follows the ideals, per se, but more the results.
Shatner said:
The thing about statistics is that whoever quotes them can choose to present them to mean anything they want to.
Again, no mention of the Wii, again only comparitive figures used, no actual unit numbers.
Again: absolutely worthless other than to get the armchair analysts all frothy.
that_happy_cat said:
Is there not an argument to say that the Wii shouldn’t be compared to the PS3 and 360? Afterall, it’s not bought by the same people (my mother in law and sister in law want one for christmas) and most multi platform games cover PC, 360 and PS3… not Wii.
LeD said:
300 000 units? That’s going to melt like snow within the next couple of months I believe!
Truk said:
How about we stop giving a shit who is selling more of what and go do something productive instead.
Where’s the Why Don’t You… gang when you need them?
morriss said:
They’ve switched off their TV sets
airdom said:
@Truk
like work?
if you bought your console, your one out of millions, so who gives a shit about how many theyve sold!
Truk said:
“They’ve switched off their TV sets”