During the 2006 Tokyo Game Show, Sony announced to the public that it was going to bring down the price of the lower end model of the PlayStation 3 in Japan. The price drop will make the 20gb version of the console cost around 49,980 yen (about $429) when it goes on sale in November 11 in Japan.
With the recent announcement, various analysts in North America, where the same model of the PS3 will cost $499, were initially skeptical of the move and many saw it as a sign of weakness on the part of the company as well as a questionable business decision.
But the likelihood is that the price drop is just a sign of things to come. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun cited a study made by Enterbrain, Inc. (the publisher of Famitsu) that it is expecting more price reductions as well as a more expanded software catalog for the PS3 by the end of the 2007 holiday season.
Because of this, Enterbrain predicts that the PS3 will outsell its biggest rival in the Japanese market, the Nintendo Wii by the end of next year.
[tags]Enterbrain, Sony, Nintendo, Wii, PS3, PlayStation[/tags]
Tags: Enterbrain, Nintendo, PlayStation, PS3, sony, Wii
With Grand Theft Auto: Vice City set to be released in just a few weeks there are more people now who are considering buying a PlayStation Portable. But for most of these prospective buyers the price of the PSP is what is stopping them cold from actually buying a unit. With the bare bones version costing $199 it is still $70 more than its rival Nintendo DS Lite. A $250 Entertainment pack is also available that is bundled with ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin’ Trails, a Lords of Dogtown movie UMD and a 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo.With reports that the DS is consistently outselling the PSP there are rumors that Sony might just offer a price cut. But the company has repeatedly denied that there is such a move forthcoming with a reiteration of this stance being echoed by Sony Computer Entertainment America.
So for those who are hoping to get PSPs at a lower price, well, tough luck.
[tags]PSPS, PlayStation Portable, UMD, Memory Stick, Entertainment, Sony[/tags]
Tags: Entertainment, Memory-Stick, PlayStation-Portable, PSPS, sony, UMD
As if Sony does not have enough problems what with the recall of batteries it has manufactured for some of the top laptop computer companies in the market, yesterday, Sony’s stocks fell by 2.75 per cent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. This downturn was a result of the release of analyst downgrades that have sent traders tripping over one another to unload their excess Sony stock. According to one of the reports, which was issued by Macquarie Equities, one of the concerns expressed by many who were able to play with one of the 200 or so PlayStation 3s on demo and the floor of the 2006 Tokyo Game Show is that the units allegedly operated erratically and that it had to be reset repeatedly.Macquarie Equities’ report said that the reason for the malfunction was unknown the general suspicion as that the PlayStation 3 was actually overheating as a result of it being in enclosed units as well as the high temperatures in the venue. The report stated that with the problem occurring at such a close date to the actual launch and thus, fulltime production, this is clearly bad news for Sony.
Sony though has issued its own statement regarding the matter saying, that “despite the report from Macquarie Securities implying that they had heard of reports of PS3s needing to be rebooted at TGS, SCEI are not aware of any instances of this occurring at TGS, nor have we received any reports from third parties to such effect.”
Sony is very adamant that its units are not prone to overheating. Is this a company trying to contain a potentially bad situation? Or is it really just defending a unit that for all intents and purposes is really working well? We now have technically a month to finally find out!
[tags]Macquarie Securities, PS3, Tokyo Game Show, Sony[/tags]
Tags: Macquarie-Securities, PS3, sony, Tokyo-Game-Show
