It is an inevitability of consumer economics in the console industry to see periodic price drops in console prices as the technology matures or gets on in its life cycle. The price drops also happen when the next generation consoles are just around the corner.
We�ve already seen a series of price drops for the industry leader PlayStation 2 over the last few years. But with the PlayStation 3�s release just a couple of months away, another round of price drops become inevitable. This round though is just exclusive to the Japanese market, which traditionally has to contend with higher prices.
The US market has been enjoying the $129.99 price for the redesigned slimline PlayStation 2 for quite some time now but the Japanese gamers had to face higher prices. Actually the reason why Japan has higher PS2 prices is because the units were released under the open pricing system in Japan � this means that the individual shops will actually be free to set up the prices themselves.
But as a respite to Japanese gamers, who currently have to contend with current PS2 prices at 19,980 yen or $170, Sony Computer Entertainment announced that it is imposing a new suggested retail price of 16,000 yen or $138, beginning on September 15. The price drop will affect both the Charcoal Black and Ceramic White editions of the latest SCPH-77000 hardware.
This move can be seen in two ways � Sony wants to significantly reduce the remaining stocks of its PS2 before it rolls out the PlayStation 3. The other reason could be that Sony has become quite impatient with the failure of the retailers themselves to lower the price of the PS2 to make it more competitive and palatable to consumers.