Sony Computer Entertainment is set to make a global announcement this week regarding the PS3 which has witnessed three months of declining sales with Tuesday, March 31 which is Wednesday in Australia set to be the big day.
Sony Computer Entertainment is set to make a global announcement this week regarding the PS3 which has witnessed three months of declining sales with Tuesday, March 31 which is Wednesday in Australia set to be the big day.
Analysts are tipping either a massive price drop for the PS3 or the launch of a brand new browser and online content.
Last week Bloomberg reported that the cash strapped Company is under pressure from video-game publishers to cut the price of the PlayStation 3 console or risk seeing more development funds shift to Nintendo Co.’s Wii.
In Australia the PS3 is among the most expensive of PS Consoles in the world with SEC Australia mid last year recommending a retail price that was $230 dearer than the same console in the USA. In recent months the console has been languishing in third place being the highly popular Nintendo Wii and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft.There is even speculation that in trade media that in the USA that the PS2 console could drop to sub $100.
It appears that the folks at Sony Computer Entertainment are getting quite tetchy over the fate of the PS3. In Australia recently the head of SCE threatened to sue ChannelNews and SmartHouse for daring to suggest that the Company was “price gouging”.
In the US the company’s senior vice president of global marketing Peter Dille, told Bloomberg that while Sony has no plans to reduce prices, “everybody in the development community would love for the PS3 to be free, so they could just sell razor blades.”
Bloomberg said that in 2008 Activision Blizzard the world’s largest game company, generated 32 percent of its console revenue from Wii titles. That compared with 19 percent for PS3, according to Activision.
Electronic Arts Inc. is releasing some titles solely for Wii as part of a push to stem two years of losses, and showcased games for the Nintendo player at a company event last week.
“You can’t ignore the guy who has half the market,” said Peter Moore, head of sports games at Electronic Arts.
“Sony obviously still has a ways to go with their pricing,” Moore, a former executive in Microsoft’s Xbox division, said in an interview. Electronic Arts is committed to the PS3 and expects a cut eventually, he said. PS3 games increased to 27 percent of the company’s console sales last quarter, bolstered by a popular soccer title.
For more see Bloomberg. www.bloomberg.com
