Sony to sell new 40GB PlayStation 3 in U.S.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, NEWS , Research) will launch a cheaper model of its PlayStation 3 in the United States, hoping to attract more buyers as it goes up against rival game consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo this holiday.
Context & Ripple Effects
Sony has spent 2007 repricing the PlayStation 3 downward: after price-cut talk surfaced in March and an official July price cut timed against Xbox 360 failures, the company launched the 40GB model in Europe earlier this month (announced by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe on October 5). Today's U.S. announcement extends that playbook to its home market just before the holiday quarter.
The move lands in a three-way holiday race: Reuters frames the cheaper SKU explicitly as a bid for buyers against Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii, while Ars Technica's pickup confirms the $400 price point alongside a price drop for the 80GB model — meaning Sony is repositioning its whole U.S. lineup, not adding one SKU.
First-order effects
- U.S. shoppers get a $400 entry-level PlayStation 3 for the holidays, with the 80GB model dropping in price alongside it, giving retailers two lower price points to merchandise against the Wii and Xbox 360.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft and Nintendo head into the holiday quarter facing a cheaper PS3, pressuring both to defend share through bundles or pricing rather than letting Sony's entry price reset the comparison.
Third-order effects
- Three price actions in under a year point to a console cycle where hardware launches above mass-market willingness to pay and makers manage demand through a rolling cadence of new SKUs and cuts rather than a single launch price.
The trend: Console makers are shifting from fixed launch pricing to continuous multi-SKU repricing as the primary weapon in holiday-generation share battles.