Colin Sebastian, an analyst working at RW Baird, believes that the only way for Sony to maintain their market share is by cutting the price of the PlayStation 3 console.
Nintendo was the first platform developer to release their console at the start of this generation of gaming and they reaped the benefits. The Nintendo Wii sold like hot cakes fresh out of the oven in a store filled with rich starving people.
Microsoft was the next out of the box with their Xbox 360 and captured a significant portion of the hardcore gaming market themselves. However, the Red Ring of Death resulted in the company not having enough stock to keep up with demand, an issue Microsoft
have addressed since then, and perhaps could have captured even more of the market then they did.
Last out was Sony with their PlayStation 3 and the console has been struggling to reach the figures that the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii had posted. However, a price cut boosted the console’s sales in what was the PlayStation 3’s best period in terms of sales.
Michael Pachter, a fellow analyst, earlier predicted Sony to announce another price cut at E3 this year and it seems that Colin Sebastian, of RW Baird, believes that the consumer electronics giant doesn’t have any other choice.
He said, “Sony is in a tough position. In many areas of their business, they are losing share, such as TVs and computers, and their challenges are well known in gaming.”
“The need to invest in a significant upgrade cycle for Orbis/PS4 comes at a awkward time for Sony, but to remain competitive longer term in games, we think there needs to be another price reduction on the PS3” he continued, “and then be the first to market
with a next generation console.”
Sony earlier teased that they would do their best to ensure that gamers could get their hands on a PlayStation 4 console before Microsoft launched their console and the move makes sense.
The consumer electronics giant will be looking not to be left behind in the next generation console race as they were in the current, yet only time will tell if they have learnt their lesson or not.
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