Slumping Hardware Sales for Sony and Microsoft

Yesterday Bill Harris posted an interesting article suggesting that Sony and MS need to make a price cut now:

“… the PS3 is a $599 boat anchor right now. They have to cut the price by at least $100 and they have to do it as soon as possible.

Somewhat surprisingly, so does Microsoft. They don’t have nearly the kind of momentum they need to get the installed base they’re projecting for this generation. I’m expecting a major price cut from them as well, and by major I mean $100.”

Who will blink first? Very interesting question. Bill thinks MS should take the initiative, which would make Sony look even weaker.

I think at this point, regardless of which PS3 games are released in the next 6-9 months, Sony’s numbers are not going to climb much except for the holiday period (November, December, and January will see higher than average PS3 hardware sales). My suggestion would be to reduce the price of the system by $75, and throw in some sort of bonus. If Sony really is losing a ton of money on each system sold, I doubt that they can stomach a $100 (or more) price drop. They should be able to throw in some type of bonus, but their problem is they do not have a great pack-in type game. I would suggest that Sony offer a bonus along the lines of a mail-in rebate for three Blu-ray movies, a PS3 game, a Sixaxis controller, or HMDI cables. Sony could even be creative and several free PSN downloads. A $75 price drop plus a bonus worth up to $60 may not get the system anywhere close to a $299 price point, but I think it would be enough incentive to start moving some hardware.

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