Further PS3 price cut predicted

Mike Bantick
Wednesday, 05 September 2007 07:06

Your IT - Entertainment

It’s Crazy Sale time in console world as a positioning shift of the gaming heavy-weights begins to have an affect on sales. Analysts are now predicating a imminent further reduction in the retail price of the PlayStation 3 80GB model.

According to a recent Bloomberg interview , we (or at least the U.S.) could be in for some good news at the cash register if in the market for a new PS3.

Sony will stop selling the original 60GB HDD equipped PS3 once stocks run dry.  At the current rate this will be through October.  Sony are no longer building the US$499 60GB model.  Meanwhile the 80GB model has been selling for the originals price of US599.

According to LA based analyst Edward Woo with Wedbush Morgan Securities.  The exhaustion of the 60GB model stocks; “[will probably]. lead to a cut in the price of the $599 model that comes with an 80-gigabyte drive”

“That's what everybody's expecting,'' Woo said in an interview. “That would be a surprise if they don't.”

Microsofts competing Xbox 360 was cut by US$50 to US$349.99 giving a middle ground alternative to non brand orientated consumers over the PS3 and the cheaper US$249.99 Nintendo Wii.

Meanwhile Microsoft are giving European HD DVD fans a cheaper alternative to the PS3 Blu-ray HD movie experience by cutting the cost of the Xbox 360 add on HD DVD drive.

Dropping the drive by 20-euro’s to 180 euros – though once again this does not match up too well with the U.S. market where the drive dropped from US$199 to US$179.  Europeans are still paying some US$65 more than their U.S. friends for HD DVD goodness.