xbox and ps2 price to be cut to $199 (analyst opinion)
05-10-02, 03:46 AM
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I don't see anything obviously fake about that ad, but that could just mean that it's a better fake than most. The whole way this story came out, though, seems to suggest that the price cut is for real. Unless you're in a huge hurry, it's typically a good idea to let your channel partners know ahead of time when you make a big price cut. That way, they've got time to get their own promotions for the product in place. And since such a price cut will significantly affect their bottom line, analysts will have to be clued in.
To the public, MS wouldn't say anything official about it until the day it happens or maybe just a few days before. So, unless someone's pulling a fairly well choreographed hoax, this price move appears to be quite authentic.
I used to think that Sony was probably planning a price cut at E3 regardless of what MS did, but I'm starting to think they may have other plans. There's still the usual reasons why it'd be a good idea, but I'm starting to see some good reasons why they may want to wait.
First, they've announced that the network adapter will go on sale sometime in August. That's just over two months after E3, so it wouldn't be a very long time to wait if they decide that's a better time to do it. Waiting until then would give them more flexibility for that introduction. My guess is that Sony wants to go into the fall/winter selling season against the XBox at $199 with the network adapter bundled. Cutting the price to $199 now without the adapter would make that awkward.
Second, sales during the summer months tend to be slow anyway. Even if XBox and GC take some share away from Sony during the summer, it won't amount to much in gross numbers. Certainly, this would allow the XBox to gain some traction, but there's no chance of them "catching up" just like there was never any chance of them "pulling a Dreamcast."
Finally, from a PR standpoint, they'd have nothing to lose and much to gain. If XBox outsells PS2 during those two months, Sony would shrug and say, "duh, they're a hundred bucks less." But, if XBox sales don't perk up enough to overtake PS2, Sony would get to lord that fact over everyone.
Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud here. Everyone, professional analysts included, seems to think that a MS price cut would force Sony to follow suit immediately. While I still think it's very likely that they will, I'm starting to think it's possible that Sony might make us all wait a bit before they actually do it.
To the public, MS wouldn't say anything official about it until the day it happens or maybe just a few days before. So, unless someone's pulling a fairly well choreographed hoax, this price move appears to be quite authentic.
I used to think that Sony was probably planning a price cut at E3 regardless of what MS did, but I'm starting to think they may have other plans. There's still the usual reasons why it'd be a good idea, but I'm starting to see some good reasons why they may want to wait.
First, they've announced that the network adapter will go on sale sometime in August. That's just over two months after E3, so it wouldn't be a very long time to wait if they decide that's a better time to do it. Waiting until then would give them more flexibility for that introduction. My guess is that Sony wants to go into the fall/winter selling season against the XBox at $199 with the network adapter bundled. Cutting the price to $199 now without the adapter would make that awkward.
Second, sales during the summer months tend to be slow anyway. Even if XBox and GC take some share away from Sony during the summer, it won't amount to much in gross numbers. Certainly, this would allow the XBox to gain some traction, but there's no chance of them "catching up" just like there was never any chance of them "pulling a Dreamcast."
Finally, from a PR standpoint, they'd have nothing to lose and much to gain. If XBox outsells PS2 during those two months, Sony would shrug and say, "duh, they're a hundred bucks less." But, if XBox sales don't perk up enough to overtake PS2, Sony would get to lord that fact over everyone.
Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud here. Everyone, professional analysts included, seems to think that a MS price cut would force Sony to follow suit immediately. While I still think it's very likely that they will, I'm starting to think it's possible that Sony might make us all wait a bit before they actually do it.
