Sony: PS3 Leads 360 In PAL Regions, No Price Cuts Imminent

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Last week, it came to our attention that Microsoft claimed to be outselling Sony in the console war in PAL regions, which was somewhat surprising, as we believed the PlayStation 3 was quite popular in Europe. Now, Sony has stepped forward to refute Microsoft's claim that the Xbox 360 is the better seller.

According to MCVUK, SCEE president David Reeves stated that according to "internal figures," the PS3 has sold around 300,000 more units than the 360 in PAL territories. Furthermore, due to this sales success, Sony - as they have said many times in the past few months - has no intention of cutting the price of their machine. It currently retails for £299 SRP. Said Reeves:

"No we are not going to go down in price; neither are we going to go down in price on PS3 in spring time either. Absolutely not, whatever you might have heard to the contrary."

He went on to say that their strategy focues squarely on value; i.e., what you get for your money, and Reeves remains confident that consumers continue to recognize the value of the PS3. However, if you're thinking they will follow the exact some business model they implemented with the PS1 and PS2, think again. It's the "value added" strategy that Sony is relying on, and while that doesn't include price cuts, it does result in the PS3 "tracking" right where the PS2 was at this point in its lifespan. Finished Reeves-

"When we came into the industry we started at zero. And we had to have a model that offered price elasticity. As soon as we got the manufacturing price down on PSOne we lowered the price. Same with PS2. But we’re not doing that on PS3 – that’s not the model, even if people are expecting it.

We’re relying on the fact that the industry will keep growing and while we might have a comparatively smaller share of the market we will have higher sales. PS3 is tracking where PS2 was at the same point in its life. The value added strategy will continue for some years to come."

12/4/2008 Ben Dutka

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