Sony’s PS3 Does Not “Need” a Price Cut
Posted on 24. Feb, 2009 by bakerboy in Real Talk with the HipHopGamer
When driving down your local highway are you surprised that you don’t see as many Porsches casually cruising around as you do Hondas? Well why are people so surprised that there are far fewer PS3’s being sold than Xbox 360s. Do you expect Porsche do drop the price on its 911 Turbo in order to sell as many cars as Toyota does with its Camry? The reason that I present this analogy is because this is the type of comparison that is used to describe the PS3 and 360 market. If the PS3 is so far out of the 360’s league as far as performance is concerned, then why is a price drop needed in order for it to compete?
Maybe the answer to the question is simple. What if the analogy is incorrect? What if the PS3 is actually more like an Acura and the 360 is like a Camry; at least in the eyes of “Joe the consumer”. What if “Joe the consumer” is unable to perceive the added value of owning a PS3? If this is the case, why would he go and spend $200 more for a product that is of equal value(in his eyes) to a product that is much cheaper. The reason why people are asking for Sony to drop the price is because: 1. They are Sony fans and they want to see Sony “win” this generation. 2. They see the PS3 and the 360 as essentially the same product offering a very comparable experience. Of course they each have strengths and weaknesses, but in the end you can’t loose with either product. The same cannot be said for the Porsche and Honda analogy. Consumers accept the fact that owning a Porsche provides a substantially better experience than owning a Honda, hence the much higher price. This goes for all businesses in general, no matter the market. If someone offers a similar experience at a lower price, then customers will flock to the less expensive product.
The other side to the equation is this. The Sony board of directors is not made up of Sony fanboys that would give anything to outsell the 360. It is made up of executives that think business. Microsoft put Sony into this position by offering a similar experience at a cheaper price. Therefore their hand is forced at this point. If Sony wants to continue selling the PS3 at the $399 price point, then they must convince the public that they offer a $399 experience. And no, it is not because of the recession that they must lower the price. Does anyone see Nintendo lowering the price of the Wii? The answer to this question is no; this is because Nintendo has convinced the public that the “Wii Experience” is worth the price of admission. If blu-ray, built in wi-fi, bluetooth , built in HDD, etc meant as much to the average consumer as they do to the the average Sony fanboy then the Wii should be selling for $25, since it has none of these.
The moral of the story is this. If a company offers a premium product at a premium price, then why should they be expected to sell at the same rate as a less expensive product? Lamborghini is not planning a price drop because Kia keeps outselling them every month. Lowering the price of the PS3 would cause Sony to lose more and more on each sale unless they lower production costs as well. If Sony wants to continue to sell the PS3 as a premium product, they must convince the average consumer that it is one. So far they have failed to do this. This is why everyone wants them to drop their price to $299; a mere $50 more than the Wii. Do you think that this is what Sony “needs”? You probably do, if you want them to “catch up”.
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Interesting article. Were did you got all the information from…
I switched my gas ane electric supply today and am paying
Interesting article. Were did you got all the information from…
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@ bakerboy & Braynbasher
Your right, the car comparison is way off! come on now, lets not insult HONDA vehicles like that! unlike the 360, Honda cars Last waaaaay longer than any 360 pro, elite whatever it is its gonna break down like a Ford mustang by the RROD!( I had a mustang so I know how really F#@! up it gets)
and if we’re talking models to choose from, hmmm.. lets just say the porshe Boxster(PS3) vs. a Ford mustang(360) muscle car but with a few flaws, while the wii is like a Honda civic( affordable, basic handle for the average person, but not as powerful and pretty)…
its still really no competition once I explain my point of view…
you have the developer for the ps3 which can be considered as an amature driver just learning how to drive stick with the porshe, while the developer of the 360( driving a mustang automatic) basically knows exactly what to do to get the car going.
place it on drive and push on the gas! VVVrooom! off he(360) goes with a one year head start, but now its the end of the second year and the amature driver of the porshe(PS3) is not much of a newbie anymore ever since he got the hang of driving standard! only about 8 miles away before the porshe catches up to the mustang automatic with 7 very Long laps to go!! Going on his 3rd year, the porshe(ps3) Driver seems to be slowly catching up & going at a remarkable speed with amazingly improved driving skills( via, Killzone 2, uncharted 2), while the pontiac G5 is almost at its limit( gears of war 2) if not already!
So with this statement I made… Who do you think will win in the end? hell! with the improved graphical abilities of the ps3 and games coming out, I’m sure it’ll ony take sony by the end of this Year or next year for sure to catch up or even surpass the 360.
As for developers backing away from the ps3 because its not gaining enough consumers, even though its at 21 mil. I’d have to say “yeah, oooookay buddy” you really think their gonna leave 21 mil. ps3 owners hanging?!?! I don’t think so. Not all developers(big companies like EA,Capcom,Namco,Rockstar) get into video game designing Just for the money you know. cause if that were the case, then I’d say we would still be on CD format… So obviously, thats not the case.
I am not saying that I believe that the PS3 is like a Porsche and the 360 is like a Honda. This is the comparison that Sony fanboys always make. If this were true then the PS3 would be selling fine for its price point. Developers are dissapointed with the install base because in fact it doesn’t perform like a Porsche, therefore it shouldn’t have the premium price. If Sony wants to continue selling it a premium price then they must convince developers and consumers that they are receiving a premium product. If the PS3 was actually worth what its price tag indicates then developers wouldn’t be asking for a price drop, being that the PS3 would be flying off the shelves. You shouldn’t have to drop the price on a superior good in order for it to compete with “inferior” products. If this is the case then maybe your product isn’t superior to the eyes of the average consumer, but only fanboys. Its funny that the Wii is yet to have a price drop. This is because it provides a unique experience that can’t be had anywhere else.
The Car Comparison doesn’t work. You know why? Because Between Porsche and Honda their are at least 100 other models to chose from. In Consles their is only 3. If you read the story on edge-online.com. http://www.edge-online.com/news/analyst-ps3-price-cut-chatter-rising Then you see its not gamers,but developers who are saying they are going to move if there is not a price drop soon.
Why can’t most gamers take the system for whats it worth? I don’t really believe Sony has to lower the price of there PS3 cause most high end PC’s are alot more costing then a ps3 and X-box 360 arcade price point kinda make up for the hardware feller, like many have said you get what you pay for… end of my rant….
i like the porsche vs honda cuz its so very true.
but sony doesnt need to lower its price at all. they have a well built machine that can do so much more than its sold for. the fact you can multi boot your ps3 should get the tech junkies going ape shit.
agreed with antdizz and berland
I agree with Antdizz but soo many people wan’t sony to jump in the lead with a $400 price tag off the back and at these current time that is a very hard thing to achive, its not because of games online or anything else, its the price.
21 to 28, 360 is a year ahead in time not sales. I say this because there only 7 million ahead, and within a year sony or MS can sell anywhere between 10-15 million. see last year for example, both sold around 10 million.