Headline :: Sony explains why UK didn't get a PS3 price cut

[Steven W]

Semi-official UK blog, Three Speech has grilled David Reeves on the lack of a PS3 price drop in the UK. The Sony Europe President believes that a price drop now would anger those gamers who have already bought the console.

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[listy]

seems odd they didnt bother when they did this with ps1 and ps2

[Steve B]

that just stinks of fish to me. like listy said, they've never cared about it before.
the only reason they're not dropping the price is because they know punters over here will still stump up the cash. The local neds will still save up their gyros to go out and buy it because its got sony written on it. As the cost of production gets lower, if price is constant, they make more money. Considering they're still losing money on each console produced. I would think that rampant cost recuperation(sp?) would have a significantly larger impact on the price model than say, "we dont want to anger people who've already bought one".

[Beserker]

I asked Sony why us owners who forked out a hell of a lot of money for a PS3 and extra games, controllers etc are not going to be offered some kind of compensation package, I mean 3 months and they're giving away 2 free games and an extra controller, thats more than I've got now, not very fair at all Sony, you'll do well to actually look after your customers for once, I aint giving this one up, this was the reply below: Feel free to email the guy ;-) He completely dodges my question stating that current owners should be offered the same deal:

Dear Mr */*/*/*/*/

Thank you for your recent e-mail regarding PlayStation 3 (PS3).

I apologise for the delay in my response.

I understand from your e-mail that you feel aggrieved that there has been no
price cut of PS3 in the UK, or indeed, Europe. As you are aware, Sony Computer
Entertainment Europe (SCEE) recently announced the availability of a PS3 Starter
Pack. The Starter Pack adds an extra SIXAXIS wireless controller and two First
Party games. This offer adds substantial value to the overall basic PS3 pack
offer.

SCEE has no plans at this time to reduce the price of PS3 in the UK or Europe.

I trust that this information goes someway to explaining our position on this
matter. Should you require further assistance or have any other hardware
related queries, please contact the PlayStation Careline on 08705 99 88 77,
where an agent will be happy to assist you.


Yours sincerely,


Mehul Thakrar
PlayStation Consumer Care Team
Sony Computer Entertainment UK
Careline: 08705 99 88 77 (National Rate)
E.Mail: Help @ uk. playstation. c o m
Web: h t t p : / / w w w .playstation . c o . u k

[kalniel]

Semi-official UK blog, Three Speech has grilled David Reeves on the lack of a PS3 price drop in the UK. The Sony Europe President believes that a price drop now would anger those gamers who have already bought the console.

And angering them would do what exactly? They already have a PS3

[GeorgeTuk]

Oooooh, this is just like the Iraq war all over again.

First it was WMD, then terrorism, then regime change.

PS3 we have had, Exchange Rate, Value for Money, and now aggrieved current owners.

Nothing like a good lie!

[MadduckUK]

so true

[Dorza]

They don't want to annoy customers who have bought a PS3 for £425, so they ADD EXTRA VALUE to it by bundling some games and an extra controller. It is exactly the same in principle as dropping the price only it is worse because your getting a lot extra for the same price as before. If I was a PS3 owner I would have preferred a price drop since that is expected to occur with electrical goods and it is the way things have been done for decades really.

Sony knows that people over here in particular will pay for a PS3 If they really, really want one. In which case they stand to loose less money on consoles sold over here than in America or Japan so why lower the price of the unit and loose even more money. I can see the business sense here but they've added a sugar coated topping to it. At face value we still have to pay over £400 for a PS3 and many folk just can justify it, even if it is technically better value; £425 is £425 no matter what you bundle with it.

[Harleigh Quinn]

There is one major thing that alot are forgettng in this:

Micosoft has been selling the 360 at a loss since launch and will probably cut the price around christmas, just to saturate the market.

I don't plan to get a 360 anytime soon but this is very pertinent when one looks at Sony's statement of stating they cut the price to what they could afford to sell them at. To be honest, they could have just as easily recalled all the US models, removed the emotion engine parts, and made PS2s out of them and then sent them back at a cut price.

Another major issue here is that they are no longer utilizing toshiba for the emotion engine parts, hence cutting alot of overhead on thier part, so the inclusion of only an 80G HDD, emulation in the place of an emotion engine, and then keeping it at the same price as launch, only phasing out the 60G models with this paltry $100 price cut, is actually an insult, not only to those that purchased and actually kept thier systems at launch (not the eBay con artist....) but also potential customers.

The best thing they could do is just provide a 20G HDD, sell the non-emotion engined emulation equipped model at maybe $400, and then those that wish to upgrade HDD can always order one from newegg, tiger direct, or even those sites that have even specialized in 120G to 160G HDDs with the PS3 OS already installed.

Of course that's just my opinion......

[Barrichello]

And angering them would do what exactly? They already have a PS3

Well said. Yeah I hate mine so much - anyone want to a free PS3? Be quick or its going on ebay later

[danroyle]

Well said. Yeah I hate mine so much - anyone want to a free PS3? Be quick or its going on ebay later

i'll take it on one condition you send a hammer with it and then i'll video myself smashing it to pieces then post it back to sony for ya

[kopite]

Ill take it

I wouldnt pay the extortionate prices but if its free i`ll take it

[Ap0c666]

Such a poor excuse, people who adopt early always know that the price will drop and its simply because europe is a strong market for the ps3 and they know that were used to being screwed over :S

[Spud1]

I think that one of the big reasons they havn't given the EU a price cut is that it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to their sales.

The PS3 is very expensive for what it is - and most people will agree with me on this. So what difference would a 100$ price cut make? Next to nothing, that equates to a real discount of £30-£40 (taking into account the exchange rates and differing tax rates) which is barely even the cost of a game?

It still doesn't offer good value for money however you look at it, even if you think of it as a blu-ray player, thats a format that still hasn't been proven, still doesn't have a wide variety of discs to play on it and may still (and probably will) go the way of betamax in a few years time.

I don't buy this not wanting to aggrivate current owners rubbish; other console makers (Ninty and Sega for example) have both slashed prices of their consoles very soon after release without a huge backlash, as the majority of people know that as refinements are made to the manufacturing process and as parts become more readily available that the cost of the final product will go down - you pay a premium for being an early adopter as is the case with ALL technology.

[Harleigh Quinn]

I must agree.

The fact that europe was given the model the US will now be getting but with the lower HDD is not acceptable in any way.

The fact europe and Australia (which, to be honest isn't too far from Japan and also has the simplist import process) were not only given differing prices, but also prices much higher than the US (the dollar is stronger than the Australian dollar!!!) and then told "Hey, we just don't want to insult you with a price cut......" is a slap in the face.

Apparenly they are trying to make up the cost of 42" flat panel bravia's they gave out to the first few buyers. The rest of you will be paying for that for a while.

Though it could be argued we in the US weren't offered a similar promotion (the TVs or the new bundle) or it could also be argued that europe gets a lot more things than the US does (the samsung 85 and 86 series TVs that are coming here as the 81 series, and though it's been out over a year there, we will STILL be paying early adoption prices for a manufacturing cycle that has already had the kinks ironed out of it......)

But the truth is that we are all paying for Sony's blunder, their losing touch with with their core market, and the downright insulting way they believed that anyone would pay ANY price because it just said. "S-O-N-Y" on it, and you guys in the UK will always be their cash cow.

Until Sony gets it (like Nintendo did) we will all be paying for Sony's marketing and planning mistakes until we all just decide we aren't going to accept this anymore and not buy their products.

And don't get me wrong, I DO plan to get a PS3, but only after they get it straight. I did the same thing with the last model, the xbox, and the gamecube, and I have traded my gamecube and xbox in for the Wii.

The 360 is not in the cards for me, the xbox was a disappointment, the PSP won't live up to an iPod or gameboy DS, no matter how well they market it, and the most games I bought were for my PS2 and my gamecube, so yes, I plan to get a PS3, but until they get this straight, Sony won't be getting my money and I would suggest everyone else do the same.

[YorkieBen]

There is one major thing that alot are forgettng in this:

Micosoft has been selling the 360 at a loss since launch and will probably cut the price around christmas, just to saturate the market.

I don't plan to get a 360 anytime soon but this is very pertinent when one looks at Sony's statement of stating they cut the price to what they could afford to sell them at. To be honest, they could have just as easily recalled all the US models, removed the emotion engine parts, and made PS2s out of them and then sent them back at a cut price.

Another major issue here is that they are no longer utilizing toshiba for the emotion engine parts, hence cutting alot of overhead on thier part, so the inclusion of only an 80G HDD, emulation in the place of an emotion engine, and then keeping it at the same price as launch, only phasing out the 60G models with this paltry $100 price cut, is actually an insult, not only to those that purchased and actually kept thier systems at launch (not the eBay con artist....) but also potential customers.

The best thing they could do is just provide a 20G HDD, sell the non-emotion engined emulation equipped model at maybe $400, and then those that wish to upgrade HDD can always order one from newegg, tiger direct, or even those sites that have even specialized in 120G to 160G HDDs with the PS3 OS already installed.

Of course that's just my opinion......

um both consoles have been manufactured at a loss; the PS3 more so