Sony to consider PS3 price cuts

By Tom Bramwell Published 1 February, 2007

You know, later.

Sony will consider cutting the price of PlayStation 3 "when the timing is right" according to senior vice president Takao Yuhara.

"We may look at the price as part of our strategy to expand the market when the timing is right," Yuhara said the other day, as Sony admitted that launching its next-generation console had - amazingly - cost quite a lot of money to do, and hurt its Q2 financials a bit.

He added that "factors, including price cuts to some extent, are factored in" to Sony's break-even plans for the games business, which the company expects to really start really racking up the dollaryenpounds in the financial year ending March 2008.

Sony has traditionally avoided cutting the price of its consoles for longer than its competitors (the PlayStation 2 still sells at a price tag the Xbox and GameCube have long since left behind).

But there's speculation that things will be different this time around due to the console's surprisingly high initial cost (US$ 599 / GBP 425) - conjecture spurred by Sony's decision to re-price the Japanese "low-end" PS3 console at Tokyo Game Show last September.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (43) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • lambtron #1 5 years ago

    Well its not really a choice is it? The number of people prepared to pay that price isn't exactly mass market.

  • mkreku #2 5 years ago

    They ran this news in yesterdays newspapers in Sweden. But still, even if they lower the price of the Playstation 3 with 1000 SEK, it will STILL cost more than two Wii's, and STILL cost like 1.75 Xbox 360's. Horrible pricepoint.

  • Dizzy #3 5 years ago

    "when the timing is right"

    So... should be about now in Japan.

  • rhinoxious #4 5 years ago

    If you want one in the US you simply order it from EBGames and it's delivered within 72 hours. Not a great sign for a new console that should be in great demand/low supply.

    [link url=http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=020072
    ]http://ww w.ebgames.com/product.asp?produ...[/link]

    But any price cut won't come until after they've screwed the UK for £425 a unit at launch unfortunately.

  • Totoriko #5 5 years ago

    How about .... NOW?
    before the ship sinks

  • Gurgeh #6 5 years ago

    There was a report last week that stores in Japan have already cut the price.

  • Totoriko #7 5 years ago

    @Gurgeh

    only for the 20Gb

  • kangarootoo #8 5 years ago

    Hardly unexpected.

    Launch prices are for early adopters, not mainstream. The only unknowns are the actual figure and the timing.

    @rhinoxious

    For the billionth time. You don't HAVE to buy one, so you aren't getting screwed are you. Getting screwed is when train prices go up despite the service being bollox and you have no better alternative. Getting screwed is when your council tax goes up but the services don't improve.

    Complaining about things you can actually control is just whining for the sake of it. In the words of Dennis Leary "life's tough, join the club, get a fucking helmet".

  • Darren #9 5 years ago

    Well I seem to recall Microsoft promising annual price cuts around the time the Xbox 360 launched and, let's face it, it's not exactly unexpected. That said, Microsoft have still not cut the price of the Xbox 360 despite what they said but I expect it will drop in price come Easter time.

    I suppose Sony aren't doing themselves any favours by announcing the obvious as some people might interpret that to mean a price cut is imminent and therefore will decide to wait instead of buying a PS3 now.

    Personally, I think that Sony will drop the price of the PS3 around September time in the run up to Christmas as the PS3 isn't going to sell in huge numbers until it's selling for less than £300. £425 is an awful lot of money for the average gamer to fork out on a games console.

  • BBIAJ #10 5 years ago

    Not that that's going to stop you from getting one at launch, eh Darren? ;o)

  • Gurgeh #11 5 years ago

    Here we go:

    [link url=http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/japanes e-stores-slashing-20gb-prices-230297.php
    ]http://ko taku.com/gaming/top/japanese-st...[/link]

    "PS3 sales in Japan haven't cooled off, they've frozen. Consoles sit on shelves as gamers wait it out: Waiting for actual games to appear or prices to drop. Retailers, on the other hand, are an impatient lot. Retailers are also buying "used" PS3s at much lower prices than previously, paying well under the original sticker price. Just look at how the Don Quijote in Akihabara is slicing 20 percent off the 20GB PLAYSTATION 3. Nice 20-20 irony. The 20GB version originally books at 49,980 yen (US $412), but is being offered for 39,980 yen ($329) in a sale ending February. The shop is knocking a flat 10,000 yen ($82) right now. Japanese bulletin board 2chan reports that this at other Don Quijotes as well."

  • Darren #12 5 years ago

    @BBIAJ - Well.... erm... no. The way I see it is if Sony drop the price by, say, £100 after six months then I'll have got my money's worth out of it by then presumably... erm... hopefully! LOL

  • Der_tolle_Emil #13 5 years ago

    I don't know if it is really a good idea to officially speculate about price cuts. If the PS3 really is so easy to get then I suspect it's because people are not ready yet to pay such a high price for the console. "Announcing" price cuts will definetly not bring them to a purchase now but rather make them resist from buying even longer.

    Everyone knows that products get cheaper after a while. Maybe not much, but at least a bit. People speculate about this and are happy to wait one year and even if the price does not go down there is a huge library of games to chose from second hand or even games already released as budget and thus the overall price is lower. But if Sony talk about price cuts now it gives the impression that it does not need another year until the price goes down but maybe less. I guess people are happy knowing they have to wait few months less to get their PS3 and thus will definetly wait longer. If they know a price cut will not happen within the next year they might just pick it up now because they know they will not lose money because of an upcoming price cut. So I think it's a bad idea to release such a statement even when there is no definite time mentioned. In the long it will hurt Sony a bit, people may talk about this in a year from now, not remembering what was said specifically but they will remember a mentioned price cut and think that Sony does not keep its promises for a year.

    Besides, Jack Tenton (Tretton?), the Sony US guy said the opposite, that there will be definetly no price cuts in a long time.

  • tonynibbles #14 5 years ago

    Still think people are being too harsh.

    £425 for a games console, and just a games console, is on the high side (but by no means the highest launch price for a games console over the years).

    £425 for what is essentially a media server, games console and Blu Ray movie player is, I'm sorry - but in no way expensive.

    Yes, we pay more in the UK.
    Yes, we always have done and probably always will.
    Yes, Sony are not giving consumers a choice whether or not they want a Blu Ray player.

    But out of the box, for what you get it's a good buy.

    iPhones will probably be around £400 when they reach UK.
    iPods are £259 for 80Gb.
    A Sony Ericsson K800i retails Sim free at £329.99, Nokia's at similar prices.
    Sony lose $306 (est) on every console sold.
    You can't buy a Blu Ray or HDDVD player for less than 425. Let alone one that does all the 'other stuff'.

    In the world of consumer electronics, for what you get, £425 really isn't much.

    If you don't want one: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY ONE. STOP COMPLAINING.

    Xbox 360 plays games, and does 'other stuff'. Infact - it's rather cheap too! GO AND BUY ONE.

  • BadBoyBonner #15 5 years ago

    "when the timing is right"

    So... should be about now in the UK. lol

    N.B. Writing credit and composition goes to Dizzy.
    Edited by 1 at 01/02/07 @ 11:00

  • ArcMonkey #16 5 years ago

    Hmmm...NOW would be a good time for PS3 price cuts.

    Now that they've announced it, what we already knew would happen at some point, is a confirmed certainty,and I can see more people waiting it out.

  • BadBoyBonner #17 5 years ago

    TonyNibbles - I think your missing the point - many of the people on here would happily buy a PS3 but do not want to be forced to buy a BluRay player for their PS3 by default.

  • BadBoyBonner #18 5 years ago

    If the massive fiasco had not have happened with the batteries I have no doubt it would have been £299 launch price. Think they are using this opportunity to subsidise the money they lost. Which makes good business sense, in the short term, but maybe it is a bad long term strategy in it's damage of the brand.

  • tonynibbles #19 5 years ago

    @BadBoyBonner TonyNibbles - I think your missing the point - many of the people on here would happily buy a PS3 but do not want to be forced to buy a BluRay player for their PS3 by default.

    No, I didn't miss that point. I've mentioned it in the 'list of things that aren't fair'

    I'm just bored of the constant bitching and whining. It's not fair! I know! Sony haven't given us the choice. But that's what they've done. Their decision! Done. Made. Dusted. It ain't gonna change. They're trying to make money by ensuring the new format which they support isn't the one they spend a shitload of money on and then lose every penny. It's business. They're not going to replace it with a DVD drive. Ever.

  • oceanmotion #20 5 years ago

    Shitting their pants.

  • SBfistfun #21 5 years ago

    Sony will consider cutting the price of PlayStation 3 "when the timing is right"

    Wow I may consider going the toilet when I need a poo

  • Royal Fool #22 5 years ago

    [link url=http ://www.itworld.com/Tech/5050/070130ps3price/
    ]http://ww w.itworld.com/Tech/5050/070130p...[/link]

    I skimmed over this yesterday, there was one particularly funny thing that caught my eye:

    [Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.] lost ¥54.2 billion primarily due to the retail price of the more expensive of the two consoles being reduced from a planned ¥62,790 to ¥49,980 in Japan. The cut was made, Sony said, due to negative feedback from consumers.

    Here it is, in full glory: Sony intend to make back that money through Europe, pure and simple.
    Edited by 2 at 01/02/07 @ 11:11

  • The-Bodybuilder #23 5 years ago

    Milk the early buyers, then cut it a few months later.
    Sony are sorta right though. The early buyers will buy a ps3 no matter what, might as well make them buy the expensive version.

  • BadBoyBonner #24 5 years ago

    I agree that they will/can never replace the drive with a dvd - and bluray will reduce in cost - IMO I just think that the benefit over a double sided double layered DVD-18 (which holds 15.9 GB - which obviously the Xbox360 could use) will be lost on most people - and I am willing to bet £20 with anyone that neither BluRay nor HD-DVD take off at a) the rate of original DVD or b) to the size of installed user base of said same format

    Downloading will be the future - where almost everyone probably has an online repository - which prevents piracy and second hand sales (which studios love!), will be popular with insurance companies (no more collections to replace) and gives the consumer the benefit of being able to transport their entire collection around the world with no fear of ever loosing a single item.
    Edited by 1 at 01/02/07 @ 11:17

  • BadBoyBonner #25 5 years ago

    Would also allow incremental increase in your collection i.e. You have the standard version of "One flew over the cuckoo's nest". Upgrade to directors cut including blah blah blah for £1.99. Plus perhaps something unreleased before comes out - automatic email & mobile notification - All new Audio track supplied by Jack Nicolson for said film £0.99. I am sure they( Studios) can not wait for this to take off! lol

  • moggsy #26 5 years ago

    @tonynibbles

    You're right, no-one is forced to buy one. But when you've been a Playstation fan for years it really does hurt to see Sony cocking up the launch of the PS3 so badly by pricing it out of reach of most said Playstation fans.

    Most of the other products you quote are far cheaper than the PS3 so what's your point?

  • peterfll #27 5 years ago

    You cannot buy a PS3 from EBGames or most other US or Canadian retailers, as their agreements with Sony (and MS, and Nintendo etc) do not permit them to export the consoles outside their own territories. If you want to import you need to use the smaller outfits like movietyme and dvdboxoffice.

    I've only just decided I'm not taking up my PS3 pre-order as I'm only really interested in Motorstorm and I'm not prepared to pay £500 for that privilege alone (console + game + additional controller - and that's not including the price of an HDMI lead).

  • tonynibbles #28 5 years ago

    I know. It's sad.

    I was just pointing out the relevant prices of common, everyday devices which alot of people have. iPods for example, so popular. £250. It's just a walkman! A walkman! It's a fucking hard drive with a headphone socket (ok, it looks nice too) but it has a hundredth of the functionality of a PlayStation 3 or 360 and its £250!?!!
    There are a million and one things we could rant about being expensive. And we do pay more in the UK. I just think that for the price of £425 and for the *actual* technology you get out of the box, it's not much. And the loss they make on each unit shows that.

    But that's not going to keep gamers happy.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #29 5 years ago

    I believe that there is a certain limit and up to this limit expensive prices are tolerable. An iPod is definetly overpriced but it just low enough to be considered worth it. It's a valid comparison though. There is a certain amount of money people can spend and spending money is definetly fun. If I have 250 pounds to spare per month and I want an MP3 player I probably would not mind bying an iPod for that sum. Even though I know that it's actualy overpriced. But it's within my spending limit and personally I am one of those people who just have to have certain things. I really wanted a Wii for example and of course got one on launch and spending 250 euros for the console alone is no problem. I probably would have spent 400 too but definetly not more. With accessories and games 400 euros are gone in no time anyway. But I would not have paid more, even if it was as powerful as the 360. It's just too expensive then and I think that is the case with the PS3. It is definetly worth the money looking at its specs but that is no justification.

    Edit: Maybe I got a little of track. My point is if the PS3 would be cheaper and still overpriced, there would be no problem. People buy overpriced products and most of them are happy to. As long as it is within limits.
    Edited by 1 at 01/02/07 @ 12:27

  • asphaltcowboy #30 5 years ago

    And the phone comparison is off because I don't know of ANYONE that buys full price phones - it's always more sensible to get it with a deal or contract!

  • tonynibbles #31 5 years ago

    @ asphaltcowboy And the phone comparison is off because I don't know of ANYONE that buys full price phones - it's always more sensible to get it with a deal or contract!

    We all pay for the phones. Of course no one buys them outright, but we all pay for the phones.

    "Wow, Look at that brand new awesome phone. its free!"

    /signs in to a contract of £20 a month
    £20 x12 months (18 these days though) = £240, not including any calls or billing charges or VAT

    I have the k800i on a good deal that costs me around £27 a month plus calls. That's £312 - pretty much the cost of the phone. They'll get a shitload more through my data and call charge access.
    Don't kid yourself, contract phones are like finance deals.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #32 5 years ago

    I bought my phone without a contract since there was only one provider offering the phone with a 24 months contract. I would have had to switch phone numbers, would not be able to switch again (tariffs change every 4-6 months here in Austria) and just the monthly charge excluding calls etc. would have cost me only 30 euros less in comparison to buying the phone without a contract. Not worth it considering the phone was 450€, when I am ready to pay that much, I don't care about 30 euros anymore.

  • kangarootoo #33 5 years ago

    @tonynibbles

    "Don't kid yourself, contract phones are like finance deals"

    +1

  • playgen #34 5 years ago

    Why do people say "dont complain you dont have to buy one" etc well....
    they complained in Japan and got tmeselves a price cut!
    Seems to me if we complained more then we will get a price cut too. If nobody complained it would probably have launched here even more expensive!

  • Bluetooth #35 5 years ago

    In my opinion, no console is worth over £200. Even if I was filthy rich.

  • kangarootoo #36 5 years ago

    @playgen

    "well.... they complained in Japan and got themselves a price cut!"

    Not exactly. It was lack of expected sales that garnered a price cut rather than "complaining".

    Which is exactly what I am suggesting people do. If people don't like the price, don't buy it. But don't whine on like you HAVE to buy one, because you don't.

  • smelly #37 5 years ago

    So.. Even sony say its too expensive??

  • drivenstorm #38 5 years ago

    While I agree that the PS3 probably does represent value for money, at least to my way of defining it, £425 is still to expensive for a console.

    It's primary purpose is to play games. There are two consequences when you offer a multi-functional device; one, many people don't care that you can plug in cameras, mp3 players, view photos, connect to the PC or whatever. They are simply more price sensitive when it comes to consoles.

    Secondly they tend to be more price sensitive because everyone knows you have to feed the thing games and these cost money. And the more you pay up front the more you want to be certain the games are good - parents are fiends for this, understandably. The Wii is certainly an easier console to commit to when you see the headline price.

    The problem with comparing consoles to say ipods is that the running costs of an ipod aren't high. I can rip my existing music collection, CDs are cheap and ubiquitous and I can download anything else I need. Personally I can't stand ipods but they also have that techno-lust factor built-in and people want them.

    Ordinarily a price of £425 wouldn't matter but if they can't reduce costs in the short to medium term then there's going to be alot of hardcore owners as it tends to be with the 360. It's bad for business and not great for alot of gamers who are priced out of the market.


    Edited by 1 at 01/02/07 @ 21:16

  • NegativeZero #39 5 years ago

    Dropping the price so early in the system's life would be like a vote of no confidence for Sony. They're not going to change the price point unless sales completely drop off (the media exaggerates things a bit, the systems are still selling even at their stupidly high price) or the actual manufacturing costs drop. Sony can't sustain their console business if they operate at a loss forever.

    On the value for money aspect, for me at least the price is in line with a mid-range PC, something I'd much rather own. Mentally I can't reconcile the concept of a console costing that much - consoles should be cheap. Heck, the only reason that I jumped on a 360 last Christmas was that EB were knocking a bit off the price point and MS were offering a good bundle deal.

  • Kill_Crazy #40 5 years ago

    £425. What a bargain. Here I was just about to spend £800 quid on a Philips blu-ray player and then another £300 on a shitty xbox with 'honest it really is HD' graphics and Sony bring out this little beauty. Was gonna buy a few ounces of weed but fuck it, i'll get a PS3 - much more healthy.

    P.S. 360 graphics aren't gonna improve much more. Got a relative who works with PS3s (6 of em in his office) and the upcoming games look fantastic.

    /let the fanboy attacks begin :) :)

  • JOHNTIKIS #41 5 years ago

    what about cutting the price for the 20gb(and forcing and early release than expected) if the 60gb flops?

  • Caimbeul #42 5 years ago

    at £279.99 I'd buy it.

  • Ryze #43 5 years ago

    Sony = Idiots right now.