"The new Sony Europe head man said "When you introduce a new piece of hardware you have the opportunity to say there is a certain premium that is associated with it, and we took that into account."
In other words, the PSPgo isn't $249 because Sony broke the bank researching it. It's not $249 because it uses radical new technology, or because it has to make up for the fact people aren't buying many PSP games.
It's $249 because it's new, and Sony knows (or at least believes) that the kind of people who will buy something when it's new will pay more for it than they probably should."
-"The PSPgo Is Expensive Because, Well, 'There Is A Certain Premium'"
Additionally, a few smaller game chains in the UK are just not going to sell the PSPgo, because they "can't see any justification for stocking it. ... Certainly I'm not getting the response from consumers." The price, of course, is the issue. Announced at $250 during Sony's E3 press conference, the retailers say that "it seems really high, especially the way PSP's going at the moment. The models they've got out now are struggling at basically £129, pretty much [the] cost price, which we're putting them out at, and they're not selling through at that. We're trying to do some bundles just to push them through and the PSP just seems to have died as a format really… Nothing sells at the minute on PSP."
They also refuse to cut the price on the PS3, saying that "the PlayStation 3 has a ten-year life cycle and there are issues of cost and profitability." I think there are issues of cost and profitability when your system ISN'T SELLING because it's $150 more than the Wii and $200 more than a 360!
But they will, of course, "look at price and will address it when the time is right." I'm curious about when this is going to be, since they admitted themselves during the Sony press conference at E3 that even the PS2 is outselling the PS3.
The way I see it, there's an issue here when companies are continuing to make new games for the PS2. With Microsoft and Nintendo, I could definitely be wrong, but I don't think there are that many games coming out for the Xbox or Gamecube anymore, while freakin Rock Band came out on the PS2. Why is that? Is it because Sony is doing some ridiculous overcharging for their new system and developers know lots of people can't/won't pay that much?
So thanks, Sony. Thanks for saying right out what I accused you of in my earlier post - that you refuse to lower the price because you are stubborn. Thanks for proving my point, guys! Appreciate it!
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