Analyst: MS must reduce price of 360 to slow PS3's momentum

[Zeus]

simExchange analyst, Jesse Divnich, believes that the PS3 has gained considerable ground on the Xbox 360 and that Microsoft must cut prices to slow the PS3's momentum. "In the short-term, Microsoft's only feasible and economical option is to look at reducing its hardware price in North America to at least slow down the PS3's momentum until it can implement more long-term solutions to winning the next-generation console war." she said.

News Source: <a href="http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/analyst-ps3-gaining-considerable-ground-on-xbox-360-price-cut-needed/?biz=" target=_blank">gamedaily</a>

[N1GHTRA1N]

System is still selling well in North American, the PS3 barely sold more in January and February and Microsoft "claim" to have a shortage, which I somewhat believe since 360's are a lot harder to find (especially Elite) than a PS3 here.

Also MS just dropped the UK price of the 360 so that will help them more over on that side of the pond.

[grapeape]

I'm glad that the ps3 is doing better but "considerable ground" is a bit of a stretch..even with Japan being a gimme for the PS3 its been gaining at an average of less than 50k a month overall. Even if it sustains that rate indefinitely it will take 11 years to just catch up, at double we are still talking well into the next generation. Even if it can manage to quadruple it and make a 200k a month gap its still going to take over 3 years. Its doing better and finally getting some respect but the belief that its suddenly going to sell by the truckload and that 360 sales are just going to disappear is absurd as is the notion that it will catch up in a year or two.

[danight]

As far as cutting price... the 360 has really only had 1 price cut in its life cycle. All systems eventually come down in price as cost become cheaper to make. I dont think the 360 has to cut price but its probably smart business to cut price and try and get closer to 199 and try and gain some ground in other regions.
At some point they have to get into a price war with wii.

[sparda0]

Grapeape you're such a optimist! (sarcasm). Of course the PS3 will
pass the 50k-a-month mark in the very near future, especially with MGS4 only
3 1/2 months away. Not to mention its a blue-ray player, and the
price can only go down from here.

So to say that the PS3 should stay at 50k for 11 years is absolutely
ridiculous; even without MGS4, a pricedrop would surely spike the sale
considerably. Your 360-whoreness, which recently you've been trying to
hide (unsuccessfully), shines right through your remarks. You fail.

[danight]

also it should be worth noting the ps3 took off 200 in price during last year. Had the xbox 360 came down 200 in price i think it would have had a huge impact on sales as well. Also its expected sony will drop price again this year because of the 199 xbox 360 scares them. Not to mention i refuse to believe sony wont release a new model ps3 this year.

[cardboardbox]

Grapeape you're such a optimist! (sarcasm). Of course the PS3 will
pass the 50k-a-month mark in the very near future, especially with MGS4 only
3 1/2 months away. Not to mention its a blue-ray player, and the
price can only go down from here.

So to say that the PS3 should stay at 50k for 11 years is absolutely
ridiculous; even without MGS4, a pricedrop would surely spike the sale
considerably. Your 360-whoreness, which recently you've been trying to
hide (unsuccessfully), shines right through your remarks. You fail.LOL!!! :D :D

[zymologist]

i dont think the current "price cuts" happening recently in countries other than the US are true price drops. it's more that the US$ is becoming worth less and less so the console prices drop to fall into line.

for example, a 360 pro in australia has the rrp or $579 including the 10% gst. our dollar is hovering somewhere a little over US90c last time I checked. in america the same console is US$350 (according to newegg), or about AU$370, with no tax. assuming a ridiculously high sales tax of 30% (I have no idea what it really is) the cost in australian dollars comes to AU$481. thats AU$100 difference even with 20% more tax added to the cheaper price. this might have been acceptable when the US was a powerhouse and our dollar was below US80c, but with their economy sliding into depression it's only natural that other countries are going to be able to buy their goods at a cheaper price

[yusky03]

I'm glad that the ps3 is doing better but "considerable ground" is a bit of a stretch..even with Japan being a gimme for the PS3 its been gaining at an average of less than 50k a month overall. Even if it sustains that rate indefinitely it will take 11 years to just catch up, at double we are still talking well into the next generation. Even if it can manage to quadruple it and make a 200k a month gap its still going to take over 3 years. Its doing better and finally getting some respect but the belief that its suddenly going to sell by the truckload and that 360 sales are just going to disappear is absurd as is the notion that it will catch up in a year or two.

I don't expect the PS3 to ever sell more (total) then 360 and i don't think anyone did and not because it does not sell. The PS3 is a premium system even on the cheaper version. Also it came out a year before the 360. It would be amazing if it would be able to pull that off. I hope Sony did not expect it to sell more then the 360. I mean like everyone says it is a gaming console (cheaply built i might add:p) and the ps3 is so much more and some people want that in a console and some don't. I for one love it but would like 08 to be over so i have some games... i mean 09 GoW 3:D

[mikescool]

i think you will see 1 million ps3 sold at FFXIII release

[uberfry]

zeus: ever thought of posting game related news? 99% of your posts are "Analyst: bla bla bla bla"
noone cares!

[McPhooey]

How do I get to become and analyst? These guys must be paid a packet, cushy job too.....

[exorcist1966]

System is still selling well in North American, the PS3 barely sold more in January and February and Microsoft "claim" to have a shortage, which I somewhat believe since 360's are a lot harder to find (especially Elite) than a PS3 here.

Also MS just dropped the UK price of the 360 so that will help them more over on that side of the pond.

I think the xbox360 has now lost it's momentum and now the PS3 is going to shine, here in the UK my local gamestation has had a window full of preowned xbox360's 16 last time i passed the shop window and not 1 PS3 since before christmas.

[ku16610]

Grapeape you're such a optimist! (sarcasm). Of course the PS3 will
pass the 50k-a-month mark in the very near future, especially with MGS4 only
3 1/2 months away. Not to mention its a blue-ray player, and the
price can only go down from here.

So to say that the PS3 should stay at 50k for 11 years is absolutely
ridiculous; even without MGS4, a pricedrop would surely spike the sale
considerably. Your 360-whoreness, which recently you've been trying to
hide (unsuccessfully), shines right through your remarks. You fail.

Agreed, right on the money with that one.

[*StoneCold*]

System is still selling well in North American, the PS3 barely sold more in January and February and Microsoft "claim" to have a shortage, which I somewhat believe since 360's are a lot harder to find (especially Elite) than a PS3 here.

Also MS just dropped the UK price of the 360 so that will help them more over on that side of the pond.

You can go into almost ANY shop and buy a 360, most versions! Yep but that counts as a shortage i suppose :rolleyes:

The 360 is back to doing its pre-christmas rush numbers again, this is their usual numbers as i said in another thread, so the bottom line is that right now the PS3 is doing better.

Get over it.

[Jar Jar Insano]

price cut and gta4 is what it needs. when gta4 drops and 360 is significantly cheaper than ps3, people arent going to think twice. odds are that if they are buying hte console just for gta4, most of them wont evne know about the content that 360 exclusive down the road. they also need gt5, the game looks suck, im huge 360 fan but ill prob buy a ps3 when gt5 comes out just for that game and theres a lot of people out there like me that are doing the same. gears of war ftw, november can't come any sooner.

[Hootermancs]

Even though the 360 system doesn't seem to be built as well as the PS3, I would still pick the 360 as my system of choice right now.

For the most part the games are all the same, so to me it comes down to the 360 controller being just plain superior in my opinion. Plus live is really nice.

But, I did just buy a PS3 so that I could play MLB '08. So all multi-platform games I will probably play on 360. My PS3 will be for GT5, MGS4, etc. And BluRay of course :)

[Xenogears V]

Well says.

[grapeape]

Grapeape you're such a optimist! (sarcasm). Of course the PS3 will
pass the 50k-a-month mark in the very near future, especially with MGS4 only
3 1/2 months away. Not to mention its a blue-ray player, and the
price can only go down from here.

So to say that the PS3 should stay at 50k for 11 years is absolutely
ridiculous; even without MGS4, a pricedrop would surely spike the sale
considerably. Your 360-whoreness, which recently you've been trying to
hide (unsuccessfully), shines right through your remarks. You fail.

Actually its your reading skills that fail. Im not talking the total sales for a given month im talking the gap between the ps3 and 360 worldwide on a monthly basis. Do you really think that MGS is suddenly going to make the ps3 start getting better than DS type sales?

Sorry if you think its 360-whoring to look at the numbers realistically but none of the consoles started popping over 200k a month in sales last generation (excepting nov and dec as they are holiday months) until late 2003 when both the ps2 and xbox dropped to under $200. Evidently I just didnt drink the Kool Aid because i just dont see the gap starting that would be required for the ps3 to catch up by 2009 which seems to be the current fanboy mantra. Based on an end of 2009 as a goal it would have to outsell the 360 by over 250,000 units per month worldwide starting immediately.

I'll make a deal with you since MGS4 is such a system seller, if MGS4 reaches 4 million sales in 4 months (that would be on par with Assassins Creed on the 360 and slightly more than MGS3 sold) I will dress up like Solid Snake and have my wife film me taking my 9mm to my 360.

[chucky_uk]

Actually its your reading skills that fail. Im not talking the total sales for a given month im talking the gap between the ps3 and 360 worldwide on a monthly basis. Do you really think that MGS is suddenly going to make the ps3 start getting better than DS type sales?

Sorry if you think its 360-whoring to look at the numbers realistically but none of the consoles started popping over 200k a month in sales last generation (excepting nov and dec as they are holiday months) until late 2003 when both the ps2 and xbox dropped to under $200. Evidently I just didnt drink the Kool Aid because i just dont see the gap starting that would be required for the ps3 to catch up by 2009 which seems to be the current fanboy mantra. Based on an end of 2009 as a goal it would have to outsell the 360 by over 250,000 units per month worldwide starting immediately.

I'll make a deal with you since MGS4 is such a system seller, if MGS4 reaches 4 million sales in 4 months (that would be on par with Assassins Creed on the 360 and slightly more than MGS3 sold) I will dress up like Solid Snake and have my wife film me taking my 9mm to my 360.

+1

Ape will you not dress up like him anyway for fun?? Dont do the xbox thou, it hasnt done anything to you.

I agree thou, MGS4 will not shift 4 million units in 4 months

[btotheg]

Actually its your reading skills that fail. Im not talking the total sales for a given month im talking the gap between the ps3 and 360 worldwide on a monthly basis. Do you really think that MGS is suddenly going to make the ps3 start getting better than DS type sales?

Sorry if you think its 360-whoring to look at the numbers realistically but none of the consoles started popping over 200k a month in sales last generation (excepting nov and dec as they are holiday months) until late 2003 when both the ps2 and xbox dropped to under $200. Evidently I just didnt drink the Kool Aid because i just dont see the gap starting that would be required for the ps3 to catch up by 2009 which seems to be the current fanboy mantra. Based on an end of 2009 as a goal it would have to outsell the 360 by over 250,000 units per month worldwide starting immediately.

I'll make a deal with you since MGS4 is such a system seller, if MGS4 reaches 4 million sales in 4 months (that would be on par with Assassins Creed on the 360 and slightly more than MGS3 sold) I will dress up like Solid Snake and have my wife film me taking my 9mm to my 360.

Damn, I was about to rush to the rescue but it appears that you beat me to it GrapeApe. I don't know why people try to insist that he is biased, he's constantly one of the most balanced posters on here. Some of you guys need to learn how to read before you start pointless bashing :rolleyes:

Brave stance you take there but I kind of agree with you. MGS4 will move units, but I think some of you guys overestimate the power of MGS as a system seller. It's true that there are people that are waiting for MGS4 before they pick up a new system (hell, I'm one of em) but I wouldn't be all that surprised if sales were under 4 million over 4 months like grapeape stated.

[Signa]

Damn, I was about to rush to the rescue but it appears that you beat me to it GrapeApe. I don't know why people try to insist that he is biased, he's constantly one of the most balanced posters on here.

QFT

i was about to rip sparda a new one for bashing grapeape like that. ive been lurking here long enough to see how awesome grapeape is on this forum. that was so uncalled for.

[MadonnaProject]

no DUH they reduced the price to save the environment.