Sony’s PS3 at $199.99 — A “Budget” Version or A Mistake?

By Satish |

Monday, June 21, 2010

Sony's PS3 at $199.99 — A "Budget" Version or A Mistake? I visited Sony's new 3D website because of the recent Playstation Move buzz. And then randomly surfing through the site, I was surprised to see the listing of PS3, with only $199.99 price tag! I tried scrolling it down and, on the bottom of the page, included in the "3D-Compatible Products", beside the categories "HDTV" and "Home Theater", is a picture of Sony's Playstation 3 with a caption "starts at $199.99". Amazing! At first, I thought it was a mistake, but MaxConsole noted it as well, and said that it was possible. It could be a mistake, a typographical error, or a price reduction that is scheduled weeks or months from now that someone mistakenly posted. It was so surprising because no one is expecting a sale on any of the gaming consoles in the market, but considering that Sony is up against two big companies like Nintendo and Microsoft with their gaming consoles on a cheaper price, it is possible that Sony is making a marketing strategy to get the consumer's attention and came up with a more affordable version of their PS3. With Microsoft Xbox 360 elite that costs $300 and the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft's entry-level Xbox 360 Arcade pricing at $200, Sony should really come up with a gaming console that could compete with these consoles in terms of their prices. Sony's Playstation 3 price ranges from about $300-$500 depending on their memory storage. Though Sony offers better value on a spec-to-spec basis, it does not have an entry-level that could stand against its competitors in terms of affordability, especially with the psychological mindset of the people regarding the "price tag for price tag" comparison. Sony could probably be releasing a "budget" version of the PS3 with reduced memory from 120GB to 60GB or 80GB, without the controllers and the composite video, but that could not cover the big price slash. I was thinking that they could also take away the Blu-ray drive but that won't do because PS3 is dependent on Blu-ray. Though none of these are most likely to happen, considering that Sony is losing more profit from their struggle to align their high-end consoles in the mass market. Could it really be a mistake, or a marketing strategy?