The boss of Sony Computer entertainment is really “Pissed”. In an emotional telephone call he claimed that Sony was not price gouging Australian consumers. This is despite the fact that as of today the cost of an 80GB Sony Playstation at JB Hi Fi is $688.95, while at Best Buy in the USA it is selling for US$399. Based on today’s exchange rate, this equates to AU$595.
In the past, the PS3 has been between $150-$284 more expensive in Australia than in the USA. Even when the exchange rate was $0.96 in October 2008, Sony SCE still had a recommended retail price of $699 in Australia on the same PS3 Console that was selling Stateside for $399. The price difference then was a staggering $284.
Even Resistance 2, a game for the PS3 is being sold by SCE in Australia for $109, while in the USAthe game is US$50, which is still $25 cheaper when applying today’s exchange rate.
Michael Ephraim CEO of SCE said in reference to a recent comment article written by me titled “Why Sony Is Utterly Broken And Why A PS4 Is Needed Now” “I am fed up of Sony being bashed. We are not price gouging neither do we have regional codes in our software. I am calling in our lawyers as we are not in any way price gouging Australian consumers. This is misleading. We have to factor in exchange rates etc.”
SmartHouse initially did infer that regional coding prevented consumers from using software purchased in the USA, we were wrong and have removed the comment.
When asked why Sony had never made a profit from the PS3 he refused to answer the question.
When asked about how Sony were pushing the Blu-ray aspects of its PS3 as a selling point, yet Blu-ray players are coming down in price, or getting built into third party devices he said “So what that consumer’s can now buy a separate Blu ray player? What price do you think they will have to pay?”
When told that consumers could pay as little as $200 for a player, and that PCs and home theatre kits were now coming with Blu-ray built-in for free he said “So what? We have firmware upgrades and consumers can access content on the Internet. I am angry. I am bloody angry over this story. You will be hearing from my lawyers. Just because Sony is making losses does not mean that you can print garbage like this. I repeat we are not price gouging Australians.”
He then hung up.
During the five-minute rant he refused to explain why Sony was unable to deliver a hero console that could make the Company some money . He also refused to explain why Australians were expected to pay more for a Sony PS 3 than a US consumer.
SmartHouse understands that in Australia Sony supply major retailers like Harvey Norman, JB Hi Fi or EB Games direct so there are no distributor costs. The products are shipped direct from manufacturer to retailer. The same applies to Best Buy in the USA.
