Sony expected to lower 80GB PS3 to $499

News that the newly discounted PS3 would be discontinued in the coming months left many gamers slightly frustrated on Friday, but Sony will likely stick with its $499 price point when 60GB inventory depletes says analyst Micheal Pachter.

80GB PS3 to drop to $499?

"Although we think that Sony's public relations gaffe was unfortunate, we do not believe that the company has ill intent, and we expect the $499 price point to be maintained until early next year, when the 80GB model will likely by cut again to $399," Pachter said.

Just yesterday, Sony told GamePro that 60GB PS3s should be available for "months and months," even suggesting new pricing once the 60GB models have been diminished.

"We have ample supply to last us for months and months, so any upheaval over the stop in manufacturing of this model is ill-placed. As we said on Friday, we won't be making any further announcements regarding our PS3 model hardware strategy in North America until the 60GB model is exhausted and market conditions are evaluated," a Sony spokesman told us.

eah, that strategy makes the most sense, but i just cant see another price drop at the beginning of next year, unless blue ray becomes MUCH cheaper or microsoft has a price drop.

On the 1up podcast this week Ngai Croel said that costto makethe PS3 are significantly lower now than at launch. He said it is possible that on a $600 machine sony is making a profit. Compared to losing over $200 on all machines at launch.

I believe the *o gig will also be lowered to $500, they will just take Motor Storm out of the deal.

In the long future, I think it comes down to

80GB for $499.99

40GB for $399.99

I said this the day the 60gb was discounted.

Link

On the 1up podcast this week Ngai Croel said that costto makethe PS3 are significantly lower now than at launch. He said it is possible that on a $600 machine sony is making a profit. Compared to losing over $200 on all machines at launch.

I believe the *o gig will also be lowered to $500, they will just take Motor Storm out of the deal.

Shinedown220

No he said it is possible that sony or breaking even and he said possible very losely.

He also said he heard that Kaz hirai had a fight with the guys in japan at sony who didnt want the ps3 to drop in price and the only way kaz was allowed to drop the price was if they introduced the 80gb ps3 at $599.

I would not hold my breath for the 80gb price drop, if these 60gbs sell like hot cakes i bet any money sony will test the water with the $599 80gb ps3 hoping increased momentum from price drop and future software libary will help them sell a load of $599 80gb ps3's.

I would expect a price drop next year, although if sales figures for the 80gb are bad we may see a price drop this fall.

Analysts say lots of things and are rarely ever right.

sony said they have enough to last for like half a year.

i dont no why everyone is all omfgwtf

In the long future, I think it comes down to

80GB for $499.99

40GB for $399.99

Drakier

Sony would be smart to make that there 2 sku's and I can guarantee none would be left on shelves. I mean sony should just think if we add hdmi cables into each system, they would sell like hot cakes, and they may lose money but the thing is, u wanna get as many ps3's out there as possible, that way u can make your money back with softwares.

WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!

Now I finally understand the real reason for all the screwed up things SONY was doing up until now. Hight price, crappy games, crappy 06 E3... it was all b/c SONY DIDNT thats right DIDNT want very many people to buy the Ps3 simply because they were losing lots of money on those models at that time. Now that they have figured out ways to make the PS3 cheapter, they are starting to bring out the BIG GUNS, such as MGS4, KILLZONE 2, HEAVENLY SWORD, UNCHARTED - all these games will boost PS3 even more, also did anybody notice how many new games they annouced AFTER E3 at their SONY event. So SONY's plan is actually working out pretty well cuz now is the actual time when PS3s are being sold out everywhere. GO SONY's PS3!

PS: Forgot to mention the Blu-Rays, Saw tons of them for rental @ Blockbuster...

In the long future, I think it comes down to

80GB for $499.99

40GB for $399.99

Drakier

how does that work? 40gigs dont cost 100$

It would be a good move by Sony. Ride the current spike in sales, then introduce the lower priced 80GB minus Motorstorm at $499, to try and keep the PS3 selling somewhere around the 50,000 mark in America. It wont catch the Wii at this rate, it's hype and affordability prevent the 360 or PS3 from outselling it. But if Sony want a user base like the 360's, then dropping the price of the 80GB, is the way to go.SwiftRyuu

WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!

Now I finally understand the real reason for all the screwed up things SONY was doing up until now. Hight price, crappy games, crappy 06 E3... it was all b/c SONY DIDNT thats right DIDNT want very many people to buy the Ps3 simply because they were losing lots of money on those models at that time. Now that they have figured out ways to make the PS3 cheapter, they are starting to bring out the BIG GUNS, such as MGS4, KILLZONE 2, HEAVENLY SWORD, UNCHARTED - all these games will boost PS3 even more, also did anybody notice how many new games they annouced AFTER E3 at their SONY event. So SONY's plan is actually working out pretty well cuz now is the actual time when PS3s are being sold out everywhere. GO SONY's PS3!

PS: Forgot to mention the Blu-Rays, Saw tons of them for rental @ Blockbuster...

Coolboy420x

WOW are you joking, of course sony wanted to sell loads of $599 60gb uniits so they could keep charging $599 for two years and make a nice profit, console always lose money on hardware sales forr the first year or so and make there money back through software, and they need to sell hardware to sell ssoftware.

Sony did not want to drop the price 7 months in there plan would have been to sell at $599 for as long as possible and if ps3 was selling like wii it would still be $599.

Your theory is flawedd as i assume you think sony did this so they could sell more units while making a profit, if thats the case they are losing more now than when it was price at $599 a month ago, as N'Gai said its possible they are breaking even at $599 for the 60gb ps3 so this price drop means they will have to wait longer to gain a profit.

WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!

Now I finally understand the real reason for all the screwed up things SONY was doing up until now. Hight price, crappy games, crappy 06 E3... it was all b/c SONY DIDNT thats right DIDNT want very many people to buy the Ps3 simply because they were losing lots of money on those models at that time. Now that they have figured out ways to make the PS3 cheapter, they are starting to bring out the BIG GUNS, such as MGS4, KILLZONE 2, HEAVENLY SWORD, UNCHARTED - all these games will boost PS3 even more, also did anybody notice how many new games they annouced AFTER E3 at their SONY event. So SONY's plan is actually working out pretty well cuz now is the actual time when PS3s are being sold out everywhere. GO SONY's PS3!

PS: Forgot to mention the Blu-Rays, Saw tons of them for rental @ Blockbuster...

Coolboy420x

in retrospect, that actually makes sense

In the long future, I think it comes down to

80GB for $499.99

40GB for $399.99

Drakier

When was a 40 GB PS3 announced

Isn't this the same guy who predicted that MS would cut price on all three 360 SKUs at E3? Gee, how'd that turn out? :| Quit crying wolf, Pachter!

Analysts aren't always right, they're the meteorologists of the gaming industry, they make GUESSES.

[QUOTE="Shinedown220"]

On the 1up podcast this week Ngai Croel said that costto makethe PS3 are significantly lower now than at launch. He said it is possible that on a $600 machine sony is making a profit. Compared to losing over $200 on all machines at launch.

I believe the *o gig will also be lowered to $500, they will just take Motor Storm out of the deal.

shadystxxx

No he said it is possible that sony or breaking even and he said possible very losely.

He also said he heard that Kaz hirai had a fight with the guys in japan at sony who didnt want the ps3 to drop in price and the only way kaz was allowed to drop the price was if they introduced the 80gb ps3 at $599.

I would not hold my breath for the 80gb price drop, if these 60gbs sell like hot cakes i bet any money sony will test the water with the $599 80gb ps3 hoping increased momentum from price drop and future software libary will help them sell a load of $599 80gb ps3's.

I would expect a price drop next year, although if sales figures for the 80gb are bad we may see a price drop this fall.

Analysts say lots of things and are rarely ever right.

a fight? i never remember reading that.

[QUOTE="Drakier"]

In the long future, I think it comes down to

80GB for $499.99

40GB for $399.99

Da_lil_PimP

When was a 40 GB PS3 announced

A piece of random chatting printed in the loose talk section of the last issue of Game Informer hinted that Sony might release or announce a 40GB version of the PS3 at a delicious $399 price. However, it was just speculation, nothing more. That piece of idle chat made a second pass as a rumor this week stating that once the "clearance sale" is over, Sony would announce the new model. We checked with Game Informer and they explained, "That was one of our pre-E3 rumors that we ran in the loose talk section of the last issue. It turns out that talk was not only loose, it was wrong."

But while we're clearly and emphatically speculating, if there ever is a "low-end" 40GB $399 system with all the specs of the 60GB model (minus the full backwards compatibility, but hopefully with the new rumored Sixaxis), who cares about that extra 20GB of hard drive space? David Reeves sure doesn't.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/17/rumorong-ps3-40gb-at-399/

Isn't this the same guy who predicted that MS would cut price on all three 360 SKUs at E3? Gee, how'd that turn out? :| Quit crying wolf, Pachter!

Analysts aren't always right, they're the meteorologists of the gaming industry, they make GUESSES.

GalvatronType_R

While this is true, I think he is right in this case. Fact is the 80GB is actually cheaper than the 60GB, so production wise it's cheaper to make the 80GB. That is why I believe they packaged a game so it looks like a better deal. Sony will stop making 60GB models, which makes sense. So logically the 80GB will drop in price since they cost less to manufacture.

yesss, that's very good news. Thank-you for posting this.

In the long future, I think it comes down to

80GB for $499.99

40GB for $399.99

Drakier

I don't get why they would make a 40gig... when sony entertainment president said that they rather have ONE ps3 to sell other than 2. Even if they make a 40gig who would buy it? They would rather have the 60gig which is selling awesome right now.

can u download virtual games on PS3 like u can on wii???autopilotoff2

Yes. But ps3 has original games(Fl0w, Calling all Cars, ect) and ps1 games, not just old games like the Wii.