It has come to our attention that Sony has decided to reduce the suggested retail price of its upcoming PS3 20GB unit from an originally planned 62,790 yen ($536) to 49,980 yen ($430). Note: the 20GB variant will come equipped with HDMI (Verison 1.3/supporting Deep Color) output as standard with the system. The PlayStation 3 will make its debut in Japan on Nov. 11 and in the U.S. on Nov. 17.
(via Bloomberg)
By Kyoko SuzukiSept. 22 (Bloomberg) — Sony Corp., the world’s biggest maker of video-game players, said it will lower the price of its PlayStation 3 by about 10,000 yen ($85) in Japan as it competes with cheaper consoles from Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co.
The game player will retail for 49,980 yen and comes with a HDMI connection that allows high-definition pictures and digital sound, Ken Kutaragi, head of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., said at the Tokyo Game Show today. The Tokyo-based company previously said it would sell the lower-end model for 59,800 yen.
Sony is seeking to assuage concern about the price of the PlayStation 3, which comes equipped with a high-definition Blu- ray DVD player and a fast processor called the Cell. Microsoft this month said it will start selling a cheaper Xbox 360 model in Japan for 29,800 yen, while Nintendo is offering its Wii console for 25,000 yen.
“The Japanese users and media would not stop saying a price tag of over 60,000 yen, including tax, was too expensive,” Kutaragi told reporters.
Sony Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer is relying on the PlayStation 3 to revive a company that has lost half its market value in the past six years. More than five million Microsoft Xbox 360 players have been sold worldwide in the 10 months since its introduction last November, and Nintendo’s Wii console will be available from November.
Delay in Europe
Sony on Sept. 6 said it will delay the European release of its PlayStation 3 by four months until March and cut its 2006 global shipment target by half to 2 million.
The delay is due to problems with Sony’s blue diode laser, the key component of the Blu-ray player included in the console that reads information on the disc, the company said. A Blu-ray disc can store at least five times more than the 4.7-gigabyte standard DVD.
The PlayStation 3 will make its debut in Japan on Nov. 11 and in the U.S. on Nov. 17. Nintendo’s Wii console will go on sale on Nov. 19 in the U.S. and Dec. 2 in Japan.
