Analyst Expects PlayStation 3 Price Cut in April

Sony is one of those Companies with a Uniquely Japanese perspective on what it takes to be successfull. They believe in the power of Brand Name Loyalty. And it shows in how they've handled the PS3. Because of this I'm surprised they would even announce these price cuts this early. Because now people are likely to want to wait until after the price cuts to buy in...

The Irony is that Howard Stringer was given the reigns because Sony's Hardware division was falling behind. But, in many respects, it doesn't seem like he's done that much better than his predecessor. At least he has a degree from Oxford, instead of an MBA from Harvard. But this means that he has to rely more on his subordinates to give him good advice. And I'd guess they (his subordinates) were the ones who told him that price cuts should be made, but they have to wait for April to take that step.

The reasons for this are clear to anyone who understands Macro-Economics. They want "Price Elasticity Gains" but have to wait for production costs to drop and "Economies of Scale" to increase so that it's practical to drop the PS3's price. Now for those who don't know WTF I'm talking about, just trust me on this... When the prices drop, Sony will sell more PS3s and subsequently more games. And even though they may not catch up with Wii sales, they may begin to compete with the Xbox 360. The bottom line is that this had to happen eventually.

Anchors away on the failboat. Price drop will be 6 months late by April '09.

I did play Little Big Planet over break. It's a lot of fun, but not buy-a-$500-console fun. Too bad there is no 360 version.

Sony really should of had their top model ps3 $299 for this past christmas, they missed out on a good push

As far as I know here in Canada you can still get a 60GB 360 with 4 games for $259. How can Sony think that it's a good idea to keep the price for the PS3 as high as it is? Now that there are sub $200 Blu Ray players on the market they don't even have that advantage.

Is the elite up to a 160 gig or still 120?

i think $299 is the price point i'd start to seriously consider it. any less than that and it'd be a sure thing... MGS4, Drakes fortune 1 and 2, White knight Chronicles, little big planet, ratchet and clank, god of war AND a blu ray player.... seems worth it. finally.

who knows if this "analyst" knows his ass from a hole in the ground, but the price has to come down eventually.

So any word if Sony had a breakthrough in manufacturing that would allow them to get to this lower pricepoint? They continually belly-ache about how much they lose from selling each PS3, so I can't imagine they'll drop the price anytime soon unless the process gets significantly cheaper for them.

Otherwise, they should have dropped it BEFORE Christmas. When most people actually buy consoles :P

So anyone know WHAT sony has been doing? I mean, I know a lot of people just hate the PS3 because of the launch price and that we know it should be cut to 200 if they want any chance of being able to compete, but i have seen no news for sony except things like game announcements, but the rest - it's all rumors.

Anyone seen Sony execs cry during the holiday season or anything? Something from Sony and not people thinking about what sony is doing?

I thought the 40GB model was replaced by the 80GB now. I've only seen the 80 and 160 GB SKU's at Best Buy.

they have been selling the xbox 360 pro here for only $250 CDN post Christmas, was even $239 for Boxing week sales with a Holiday Bundle (w/either Halo 3 + Stranglehold or Kung Fu Panda + Lego Indiana Jones)