[Anthony Cler]

I think everyone will agree that Sony needs another price drop to attract more buyers. I think there is a way for them to do a price drop and still not lose a whole lot more than they are already losing. Unfortunately it would require replacing the two current skews with new ones.


I think Sony needs greater separation between the "core" and "premium" units if you will. I would suggest a core unit at either $299 or $349 that has no Wi-Fi, no memory card slots, nothing more than the basics and no more than the current 80gb hard drive. 40gb would be better, but that may be considered too big of a step backwards (prehaps).


The "Premium" system could be $449 or perhaps even remain $499(?). It would have the Wifi, card slots and be bundled with an HDMI cable, dvd remote, PS Bluetooth headset and 1 game and 1 blu-ray disc. This would have at minimum the 160gb hard drive, maybe even more.


I think even though the majority of consumers would likely choose the "core" system, a fair number would also go for the "Premium". The Extras that are included with the premium units would not cost Sony $100, so they'd make a little more money on those systems.


They are going to have to drop the price anyway at some point and I think this would help sell a few more higher priced systems.


Myself, I bought the 60gb system at launch mainly for the added features over the 20gb version, namely Wifi. If I were in the market today, I'd likely get the 80gb unit since the only real difference between it and the 160gb system is the hard drive and included game.


Of course this is just one persons opinion.

 

[Martez]

Yes, they should confuse the consumer even more than they already have.

 

[PvtChurch]

The last thing Sony needs to do now is create more confusion between SKU differentiations then they already have. Also we'd need a detailed list of how much the features you mentioned cost Sony to implement in the PS3 to know if that would be enough to warrant such an immense drop in price.


I don't really think Sony needs a price drop anyway. Their goal isn't to take the number one spot with the PS3, it's to be profitable and the PS3 is doing alright at the moment. In fact it was keeping pace with the 360 on a month-to-month basis until the price drop. When it's profitable to drop the price of the PS3 to sell more units that's what Sony will do.

 

[tgable]

The high end SKU exist solely for a much larger margin, it's not for the consumer. The same goes for the Elite 360.

 

[Anthony Cler]

I agree that Sony has had too many sku changes. So far none of the changes have made much sense (to me). At this point they should either do something like I'm suggesting or they should drop the higher priced sku altogether. Anyway, this is just my opinion, I'm not trying to start a fight or anything.

 

[PvtChurch]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony Cler /forum/post/15458509


I agree that Sony has had too many sku changes. So far none of the changes have made much sense (to me). At this point they should either do something like I'm suggesting or they should drop the higher priced sku altogether. Anyway, this is just my opinion, I'm not trying to start a fight or anything.

Why do they need to? Their current plan is working. Sure they'll take **** from the world's idiots because they're not "Numbar OneZ!!!1!" in the console war but it doesn't really matter as long as they come out profitable.

 

[Anthony Cler]

You may be right. But with Microsoft droping it's price and with stand alone blu-ray players droping below $200, I think there will be pressure for Sony to reduce the price of the PS3 as well. That pressure will likely come from lower hardware sales.


No matter what Sony says publicly, they do not want to lose to Microsoft.

 

[Anthony Cler]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tgable /forum/post/15458484


The high end SKU exist solely for a much larger margin, it's not for the consumer. The same goes for the Elite 360.

Yes, there are a group of consumers who will purchase the more expensive sku no matter what, but there is an even larger group (most of us) who will buy the higher end sku if it offers true additional value.

 

[Martez]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony Cler /forum/post/15458604


No matter what Sony says publicly, they do not want to lose to Microsoft.

WHAT???

Source?

 

[Anthony Cler]



Quote:
Originally Posted by PvtChurch /forum/post/15458453


Their goal isn't to take the number one spot with the PS3, it's to be profitable and the PS3 is doing alright at the moment.

Martez,

I didn't say that Sony said anything. I said no matter what they say, they don't want to lose to Microsoft (or anyone for that matter).

 

[Kevuda]

While I agree they don't need to change the ps3 itself any more, it would be nice if the $500 package at least included a friggin HDMI cable.


I worked at a retail store this winter for some extra cash and there were many people who were confused about how to hook up the ps3 to get HD. I told them they needed separate cables like an HDMI or component, but the component cables we sold were $30 and the HDMI was $50. Even after telling them about the Big lots cables or online retailers, many customers decided not to buy the ps3 due to the hastle/cost of extra cables

.


It seems silly to advertise this High def system and not even include a $2 HDMI cable...

 

[Anthony Cler]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevuda /forum/post/15459042


While I agree they don't need to change the ps3 itself any more, it would be nice if the $500 package at least included a friggin HDMI cable.


I worked at a retail store this winter for some extra cash and there were many people who were confused about how to hook up the ps3 to get HD. I told them they needed separate cables like an HDMI or component, but the component cables we sold were $30 and the HDMI was $50. Even after telling them about the Big lots cables or online retailers, many customers decided not to buy the ps3 due to the hastle/cost of extra cables

.


It seems silly to advertise this High def system and not even include a $2 HDMI cable...

Yeah, that was something that kind of bugged me when I got my launch unit. It's not a big deal for me to get the cable from monoprice, but a lot of consumers will simply use the included composite cable and wonder why Blu-ray doesn't look any better than dvd.


Another thing was the lack of any kind of headset. Again, I have a bluetooth headset, but that's not much use if no one else has one. I know more guys have them now-a-days, but back then playing Resistance online and hearing one or two guys out of 40 wasn't as much fun as it could have been.

 

[zetram]

I'm just gunna flat out say that a price drop is a bad idea.


And it's not like a "core" version of the ps3 isn't going to take any R&D money. Not to mention extra production/shipping costs because these core units are going to be done on a differnet assembly line (even if it's the same factory, it's taking away from lines for the premium version).


We have enough threads about this so, but then again we have multiple threads on a lot of topics.


The point is that a price drop seems like a no brainer to us, but it's not an ultimate solution, and it wont guarentee ps3 will take second and certaintly not first.


PS3 is just starting to get cost down on the current ps3 design. If they keep tooling away at the current price tag they can still take the 2nd place spot off of software sales.


I wouldn't expect a price drop or design changes until the next xbox or ps comes out.

 

[confidenceman]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony Cler /forum/post/15458406


I would suggest a core unit at either $299 or $349 that has no Wi-Fi, no memory card slots, nothing more than the basics and no more than the current 80gb hard drive. 40gb would be better, but that may be considered too big of a step backwards (prehaps).

I'm surprised they haven't done something like this yet.


I don't know why Sony's so blindly devoted to having built-in wireless. It's not a very big deal to most people. Follow MS's lead and just make an overpriced add-on adapter. Are they getting a kick-back or subsidy from someone for including wireless in every console? Of course, it isn't what's pushing the PS3's price tag into the stratosphere.


Most every other feature they've already committed themselves to. They've cut out all the extras as it is. Everything else will just have to come down in price as the production process becomes cheaper and the tech costs come down.


It'd be great (and still possible in the future) if Sony could offer something like MS's Arcade sku with flash memory and an empty expandable drive slot. But since it'd have to be at least 10gigs, it'd probably be more expensive to produce than the current 40gig model. Maybe in a year or so that'll be profitable, but not yet. Maybe time it with a late 2009 price drop?

 

[zetram]

wireless is a lot more important than you realize. This is coming from someone who works in the Internet field


I wiling to wager most owner are connected wirelessly.


Also u will notice they only cut the features the average consumer doesn't know or care about. The average person wants a large hdd even if they have no idea what it means. They just want that big number to brag about


To suggest getting rid of wireless hdd or bd playback (wrong thread, I know). May save us money, but I think it would shoot Ps3 in the foot. They can't win this race playing copy cat. I say play it out and hit the ground running in the next gen.

 

[Martez]



Quote:
Originally Posted by confidenceman /forum/post/15460114


I'm surprised they haven't done something like this yet.

A basic SKU with no wireless and no memory cards? They did already, and it sold so poorly that they pulled it.

 

[Degenerazn]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Martez /forum/post/15460510


A basic SKU with no wireless and no memory cards? They did already, and it sold so poorly that they pulled it.

But it was also priced at $499. Sony's in a tough spot. Keep the same skus and drop the price in time for Killzone 2. Not the most ideal solution but it should help move some units.

 

[Martez]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Degenerazn /forum/post/15460529


But it was also priced at $499. Sony's in a tough spot. Keep the same skus and drop the price in time for Killzone 2. Not the most ideal solution but it should help move some units.

Killzone 2 looks great and has a lot of hype, but it also has Killzone 1 weighing it down. I think a price drop right before a guaranteed hit like God of War 3 is more likely. It also gives them more time to get production costs down.

 

[Cynn]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Martez /forum/post/15460581


Killzone 2 looks great and has a lot of hype, but it also has Killzone 1 weighing it down. I think a price drop right before a guaranteed hit like God of War 3 is more likely. It also gives them more time to get production costs down.

Special Edition Red Kratos PS3 please.

 

[mboojigga]



Quote:
Originally Posted by zetram /forum/post/15460283


wireless is a lot more important than you realize. This is coming from someone who works in the Internet field


I wiling to wager most owner are connected wirelessly.


Also u will notice they only cut the features the average consumer doesn't know or care about. The average person wants a large hdd even if they have no idea what it means. They just want that big number to brag about


To suggest getting rid of wireless hdd or bd playback (wrong thread, I know). May save us money, but I think it would shoot Ps3 in the foot. They can't win this race playing copy cat. I say play it out and hit the ground running in the next gen.

Why? They started off with a sku that had no wireless in it in the first place. They have been taking features away since it released to get cost down. I wouldn't expect them to take BD and HDD that would be shooting themselves in the foot but wireless they can make an option IMO.