Sub-£390 PlayStation 3 In Retail
UK retailers joining in the price cutting for Sony's next-gen platform
Having achieved a record-breaking launch weekend for the PS3, Sony is now having to face up to serious price cutting in retail. UK industry journal, MCV, is reporting that retailers including Gameseek have resorted to selling the PlayStation 3, "at a loss to try (to) attract new customers to our site".
As you can see from the screenshot at the right of this story, GameSeek has marketed it's sub-£390 deal as, "*** Special Promotion for a limited time only *** ", but even given these caveats, it's not a good look for Sony as it fights what its CEO, Howard Stringer, has called 'perception' wars with both public, media and retail.
MCV spoke with GameSeek's boss, Stephen Staley, who told the magazine that, "“PS3 performed well pre-launch and the first week of release, but since then sales have dropped considerably. I personally believe the cuts are down to overstocking from launch. Credit goes to Sony for supplying for all of the demand, however this has left most retailers with a lot of stock and with the consoles costing around £400.
“We are obviously selling the console at a loss to try and attract new customers to our site. We are sure the PS3 is going to be big business for us over the next eight years so to get a good foothold in this market is essential,” he added.
This can, of course, be read in a number of ways - not the least of which is that GameSeek sees low-cost, short-term PS3 deals as attractors for new business. The PS3 as a loss-leader?
However, with other retailers offering deals that offer significant discounts - if not the naked price-cut of GameSeek.
GameStation is selling the console (@ £424.99) + two games (@ £39.99 each) + one Blu-ray movie (@ £25) (all of which should add up to £529.97) for £464.99 - a discount of £64.98.
Play.com is selling a console + 3 Games (MotorStorm / Genji / Resistance: Fall of Man) + an HDMI cable + Click (Blu-Ray) for £499.99 ( a discount of £114.95)
We have contacted SCEE this afternoon to suggest a fully fledged interview regarding the current situation with the PS3 - and we await its response.
Source: MCV
As you can see from the screenshot at the right of this story, GameSeek has marketed it's sub-£390 deal as, "*** Special Promotion for a limited time only *** ", but even given these caveats, it's not a good look for Sony as it fights what its CEO, Howard Stringer, has called 'perception' wars with both public, media and retail.
MCV spoke with GameSeek's boss, Stephen Staley, who told the magazine that, "“PS3 performed well pre-launch and the first week of release, but since then sales have dropped considerably. I personally believe the cuts are down to overstocking from launch. Credit goes to Sony for supplying for all of the demand, however this has left most retailers with a lot of stock and with the consoles costing around £400.
“We are obviously selling the console at a loss to try and attract new customers to our site. We are sure the PS3 is going to be big business for us over the next eight years so to get a good foothold in this market is essential,” he added.
This can, of course, be read in a number of ways - not the least of which is that GameSeek sees low-cost, short-term PS3 deals as attractors for new business. The PS3 as a loss-leader?
However, with other retailers offering deals that offer significant discounts - if not the naked price-cut of GameSeek.
GameStation is selling the console (@ £424.99) + two games (@ £39.99 each) + one Blu-ray movie (@ £25) (all of which should add up to £529.97) for £464.99 - a discount of £64.98.
Play.com is selling a console + 3 Games (MotorStorm / Genji / Resistance: Fall of Man) + an HDMI cable + Click (Blu-Ray) for £499.99 ( a discount of £114.95)
We have contacted SCEE this afternoon to suggest a fully fledged interview regarding the current situation with the PS3 - and we await its response.
Source: MCV
Companies:
Sony
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