July 17, 2007
Last week, Sony lowered the price of it’s 60GB PlayStation 3 model from $599 to $499. Great news! Not so fast.
Yesterday, Sony confirmed that the $499 60GB PlayStation 3 will no longer be manufactured! Instead, Sony will offer only the 80GB PS3 model.
According to Reuters, a Sony spokesman said yesterday that the company would sell the $499 60 GB PS3 model until “supplies of that unit are depleted.” The spokesman added, “We have ample inventory to meet the immediate needs of consumers in this territory for several months to come.”
The 80GB PS3 will be released next month and will include the capacity to download high-def movies. There has so far been no word yet as to whether Sony might lower prices on the model.
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said yesterday that Sony might lower the price of the $599 80GB model once the inventory of 2-3 million 60GB consoles was gone: “Although we think that Sony’s public relations gaffe was unfortunate, we do not believe that the company has ill intent, and we expect the $499 price point to be maintained until early next year, when the 80GB model will likely by cut again to $399.”
July 9, 2007
Sony will announce today its plans to lower the price of its PlayStation 3 video game console from $599 to $499. Sony saus that the new $499 price will be effective Thursday.
Sony President Ryoji Chubachi denied reports of a PS3 price cut in an interview with Reuters last Friday, but he later qualified his statement, saying there were no “immediate” plans to lower the price.
To date, the PS3 has experienced disappointing sales, due in large part to the $599 price tag, which was roughly $200-$300 more than XBox 360 (Microsoft) and Wii (Nintendo). The PS3 features a built-in Blu-ray player, so the newly-priced PS3 could boost Blu-ray HD disc sales, as well as those of the game console. Blu-ray supporters immediately said it would give the format an edge over its rival, Toshiba-backed HD DVD.
Sony will also announce a new 80-gigabyte PS3 for $600, which will eventually offer high-def movies and shows via downloads. The now $499 PS3 is 60-gigabyte. Sony last year offered a 20-gigabyte PS3 for $499, but discontinued it early this year.
The new entry-level $499 price is the same as Sony’s new standalone Blu-ray player (BDP-S300), which was introduced last month at $499.
The PS3 price drop has been rumored for the past week. Several Internet posters and TVPredictions.com readers have reported seeing the PS3 priced at $499 at Target stores across the country.
June 18, 2007
Video rental giant Blockbuster will expands its high-def service next month and will only rent HDTV DVDs in the Blu-ray format in 1,450 stores, the Associated Press has reported.
Blockbuster has tested both formats in approximately 250 stores for the last several months, and company officials say that 70% of the high-def rentals are Blu-ray. “The consumers are sending us a message. I can’t ignore what I’m seeing,” Matthew Smith, Blockbuster’s senior vice president of merchandising, told the AP.
Blockbuster is expected to announce the decision to favor Blu-ray over HD DVD today, AP reports. Nonetheless, Blockbuster will continue to carry HD DVD titles in the original 250 test locations.
Blockbuster’s announcement that it will only carry Blu-ray’s high-def DVD in 1,450 stores is a major blow to supporters of rival HD DVD, one of whom believes that the retailer is acting on limited information. “I think trying to make a format decision using such a short time period is really not measuring what the consumer is saying,” said Ken Graffeo, co-president of the promotional group for HD DVD.
Nonetheless, HD DVD, despite losing backing from Blockbuster, still faces numerous obstacles in its duel with Blu-ray. Most notably, four of the eight major studios support Blu-ray exclusively with only one backing HD DVD exclusively - Universal.
In addition, Sony’s Playstation 3 video game console gives Blu-ray a huge advantage over HD DVD. Sony has sold more than one million PS3 game consoles that include Blu-ray players, and console sales should rise even more rapidly in the next year with Sony hinting at a price drop. In addition, Sony just dropped the price of its standalone Blu-ray player to $499, which is almost within reach of Toshiba’s entry-level price of $299.
June 5, 2007
Sony yesterday confirmed that the BDP-S300, its next generation Blu-ray player, will cost $499 — $100 less than the previously announced (and somewhat griped-about) price tag.
Chris Fawcett, VP of Sony Electronics’ home products division, explained that the price cut is due to falling production costs and the growing demand for Blu-ray products.
Sony has been undersold in the market for high-definition disc players by Toshiba, which created the rival HD DVD format. Its players are now selling for less than $300, 14 months after Toshiba’s first player appeared in U.S. stores.
“If the cost of Blu-ray is coming down, you can drop the price of anything with Blu-ray in it,” said analyst Arvind Bhatia. Sony’s PlayStation 3, which features a built-in Blu-ray player, currently $599. Sony officials have said in the past that the Blu-ray component is a reason that PS3 costs $200-300 more than its game console rivals, Nontendo’s Wii and Microsoft’s XBox 360. Sony announced yesterday, however, that it was able to lower the expected price on its new Blu-ray player from $599 to $499 because of new Blu-ray production “efficiencies.”
Bhatia told Dow Jones that a PS3 price cut would quickly boost sales for the console, which has experienced disappointing sales numbers since its launch last November. Wii and Xbox 360 are both selling better than the PS3
“If Sony were to lower the price of PS3 to $499 or $399, it could attract both gamers and high-def owners seeking a less expensive HDTV DVD player,” HDTV maven Phil Swann writes. And I don’t disagree.
Sony is shipping the BDP-S300 this week.
