July 09, 2007
Sony is Brain-dead with the PS3 $100 Price Cut
After an initial denial, Sony announced that they will cut the price of the 60GB SKU by $100 to $499 and launch another SKU with an 80GB hard-drive and Motorstorm game bundle for $599. It drives me crazy that Sony keeps making these brain-dead corporate decisions trying to "have their cake and eat it" too in trying to revive their games business, which is frankly on "life-support" this generation as the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 are killing them.
Listen up Sony. There are TWO reasons why the PS3 isn't selling. 1) There aren't any games worth paying up for. 2) The price sticker shock is too high for the average consumer.
A few months ago, the 20GB SKU was selling at $499 and the 60GB SKU was selling at $599. After this price cut announcement today, the price points remain the SAME. The mainstream guy doesn't see the amazing technical specs of Wi-Fi, Cell processor, Blu-ray playback, and free online support. They see the sticker price as the barrier to buying. Sony hasn't done squat to improve their sticker shock with this move. The guy sitting on the fence that didn't buy a PS3 before, isn't going to all of sudden want one because the hard-drive is 40GB more for the same price.
Sony needs to be creative in attacking the TWO major reasons outlined above. What I would of done was keep the 20GB SKU that used to be at $499 and bring it down to a Xbox 360 competitive $399. I would then also cut the 60GB SKU from $599 to $499 too. This helps bring down the sticker shock.
In terms of getting consumers exciting about the game-playing value. I would bundle Motorstorm on both of these SKUs AND I would have 10-20 of the best Sony studio made PS2 titles already installed on the hard-drives. These titles aren't adding much profits today anyway and it bridges the game-playing need until your PS3 killer apps come in the next 12 months. BOOM! You lower the sticker shock and offer a compelling game package value without hurting your profits. Be creative like this Sony, it's your last chance.
And the guy that recommended that your more expensive $599 SKU not have the PS2 hardware emulation chips while the $499 does should be dragged out and shot. Permalink - Discuss
