What do you predict for 2009? $150 xbox 360? $249 ps3? $149 dsi? It doesn't have to be what I am saying, just what you think will happen this year.
No! Come on. Guys! Did you all see the numbers on Sony? A 3 billion $ loss. Ms firing 5000 of its staff. No price drops for either system.
I predict that Codemasters will take the Formula 1 licence they purchased and produce the best Formula 1 game ever played.....
I think that at least in Sony's case you're seeing things wrong. Ok, Sony had an important loss this year, but it was caused by the poor sells of the PS3, which are mostly caused by the high prices of the units. Lowering prices can be a risky move, but if it's done right (with some ad campaigns and stuff like that) lower prices mean more sales, with more sales more companies become interested in creating games and exclusives for the PS3, which means even more sales and then Sony gets a nice profit. Consider lowering prices as a medium-term investment...
Yeah, it's widely known that PS3's profit is too low, but if they start selling more units they can make bigger batchs of units and that lowers production costs considerably, which would allow Sony to keep a profit margin after some time. If Sony wants to take the PS3 to the top they know they'll have to make some efforts, but if they don't do something about the prices soon the PS3 won't have a great future...
Here the 360 is 150 euros already (and normally it's a 1 on 1 with the dollar) so I guess it shouldnt take too long for the US to have 150 dollar 360's As for the PS3 they really have to lower the price.
Would you rather have $1 of profit per glass on 1000 glasses of lemonade or 25 cents profit per glass on 10000 glasses of lemonade? I'm sure that sony knows their market far better than most of us do. If they can maximize profits via a price drop by making up a loss through subsequent sales and licensing deals they will do just that.
Who said anything about a $25 price cut? Sony would need to cut their price by $200 to match the low end competition in their market ($199 360 Arcade vs $399 baseline PS3). Obviously this isn't going to happen, but a $100 price cut isn't out of the question by any means.
I didn't talk about 25$, they're probably are gonna lose some big bucks in the process but big companies know what they do and it's quite common that they lose some money in order to make an even bigger profit. Don't forget that consoles are not Sony's only thing in gaming market, if Sony sells more consoles they sell more games (Sony has their own game developers and most game developement companies pay licenses for games), accessories (which even if they're cheaper they give a bigger profit percentage), Blu-ray movies (if PS3's price lowers enough it could start compiting with Blu-ray players too) and PSN memberships (which can give some nice profits too if it's handled properly), so I think they'll be able to survive until the PS3 starts giving some money...
As a comment to all comments above: Sony can't permit more losses. Its bankbalance is totally different then say Microsoft's. I would even dare to say that if this situation continues, Sony's PS3 might be their last console. Owning both consoles, I can only conclude that I played MGS 4 and the Misses plays LBP on it. It is a nice machine, but lacks exclusives and is just too damned expensive in purchase. When game titles are multi-platform, usually the Xbox360's are in 1080P and the PS3's are in 720P/1080I. In short, the Xbox360 titles look better. All in all for mass market purposes the PS3 is way overpriced. Especially considering the current economical climate where it would be hard for Sony to get money from the fininancial institutions. They simply can't afford big losses. And the pricegap towards the Xbox360 is simply too large. Can we call out: R.I.P. for the PS3 in 2011? Or for that matter R.I.P. Sony? Banks are falling, why not Sony?
Give me some compelling reasons why Sony would withdraw a console that has sold tens of millions of units, is their lead Blu-ray device, and on which they make a profit per unit. This kind of speculation is ridiculous. It's exactly the same as the "oh no the gaming industry is about to collapse" shit that littered this place up a couple of years ago.
Who had thought the name SEGA console manufacturer would ever disappear? Could Sony follow the same path? If Sony will drop its price, which they might be forced to (also due to the economical climate), the Xbox360 will be hitting a lower number also, making the price drop worthless. It is not that the PS3 outshines the Xbox360 except for a very standard blue ray player, which at that time you can buy for an apple and an egg. Sony = next Sega? PS: the PS3 sold tens of millions of units??? Don't think so. The PS2 did.
Don't forget that Sony has already paid for existing units with the borrowed money that is rolled into last years losses. They need to move that product in order to get some of that money back. We are not talking about the sale of a single unit such as a toaster or a television. We are talking about the sales of a platform that is used to generate revenue based on licensing of products to be sold for use on that platform, as well as, the sale of first party software and peripherals. Use the NES as a decent example. Remember the licensing death lock that Nintendo held? Why were they able to create such a fantastic market leader position? They moved product! They had such a huge installed user base that the profit per console was irrelevant in comparison to their licensing and software profits. PS3 Sales exceed 10.5 Million as of February 2008 http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/playstation-3-sales-hit-105-million I'm sure Alchy or someone will come up with more recent numbers as I can't be pained to do so right now.
