Sony uses low price as bait to fish huge profits
PlayStation 3 by Sony is all set to go on market shelves during the holiday season and to boost its sale in midst of the three-company melee, the electronic giant has announced a cut down in price by 20% in its home market.
Sony not only wants to supercharge the launch of the new machine, but also wants it to provide a tough resistance to the first entrant in the new generation of game consoles- Xbox 360, the successor to Microsoft's Xbox video game console, developed in co-operation with Play Station boss Ken Kutaragi on the opening day of the Tokyo Game Show revealedIBM, ATI, Samsung and SiS.
The launch price of the model will remain same in American and European countries; however, Japan will get the advantage when PS3 will enter its consumer market with a price tag of 49,980 yen ($430). In the US, the system with a 20GB hard drive will cost $499, while a model with a 60GB drive will cost $599. European pricing is 499 and 599 euros respectively.
Only the 20 GB lower cost version of basic PS3 model will be seen with the low price tag.
Sony made this announcement just a few days after Microsoft revealed its plans to roll out a an external high-definition DVD player for its Xbox 360 in an endeavor to vie with the PS 3, which is due to be unveiled later this year with Blu-ray DVD technology.
The new Japanese price puts the console in the same range as the basic Xbox 360 machine combined with an add-on HD-DVD player, which costs 49,600 yen.
Sony had originally planned to ship 4 million units to the three countries by the years end, but it altered its plans and has decided to holdup the European release by 4 months, shipping only 2 million units on 11th November and 17th November to Japan and U.S respectively.
Sony has previously been picked apart by the gaming community for the exorbitant price of the new console, and hopes to obviate criticism by the price cut.
Sony Corporation, Japanese multinational corporation and one of the world's largest media conglomerates, has its head quarters in Tokyo. It is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets.
Sony is one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world and it officially uncovered the PS3 to the public on May 16, 2005 during an E3 conference.
The PlayStation 3 is Sony's seventh generation era video game console, third in the PlayStation series. It is the successor to the PlayStation 2 and will compete against Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii, which was unveiled in 2005 and set to be released on November 19 in North America, December 2 in Japan, December 7 in Australia and New Zealand, and December 8 in Europe.
The premium version of the PS3 model will have a 60 GB Serial ATA 2.5" hard drive, Wi-Fi connectivity, and multiple flash memory card readers, and a bright cosmetic silver-colored logo and trim. Initially, Sony had decided to launch the lower cost model with a 20 GB internal hard drive, but no features of Wi-Fi, HDMI, or a memory card reader.
But later Sony acknowledged the need for High Definition Capability and thus, Play Station boss Ken Kutaragi, on the opening day of the Tokyo Game Show revealed that all 20 GB consoles would now come complete with an HDMI connection, important for playing High Definition graphics.
Mr. Kutaragi also took the opportunity to apologize to game developers for delays in the release of the PS3.
The launch of the console was originally scheduled to be in Spring 2006, but due to technical hobbles, the worldwide release was postponed. Kutaragi said, that the company’s chief aim is to ensure that there will be no further delays.
Sony has said, it expects to ship 6 million PS3’s by the end of its fiscal year in March, but some analysts have their doubts. In 2000, Sony had dominated the market by selling more than 100 million units of PS2 despite defects and hopes similar fate with the new machine.
