Sony Computer Entertainment Europe cut the price of the PlayStation 2 recently to £269 from £299. The reason given for this was the weakness of the Yen and relative strength of the Pound. SCEE reiterated that it was by no means a strategic price cut.
It would appear that this isn’t exactly true, as the company has today announced that it will not be dropping the price of the machine again this year, something it has always said it would do. So, if the company said it will make one strategic price cut in 2001, then makes a meagre non-strategic cut, followed by the announcement that it wont be making further price reductions, what does that tell us? Surely that the £30 price cut has replaced the much greater cut we all expected.
It makes perfect sense for Sony to do this and it now seems clear that the whole thing has been a well-executed marketing exercise. Sony has engineered a situation where by it positions itself snugly alongside Nintendo. The GameCube will most likely be priced at £200 and will sell like Billy-O whatever anyone else does. By the time the GameCube and the Xbox launch, the PlayStation 2 will come equipped with Gran Turismo 3 and Metal Gear Solid 2, with many more AAA titles in the pipeline. That leaves one big question: Who wants an Xbox at three hundred currency units?
This strategy means Sony leaves Microsoft out in the cold while, at the same time, getting a more than reasonable price for what will be an eighteen month old console. It’s not so great for you guys but that’s the games industry for you.
It would appear that this isn’t exactly true, as the company has today announced that it will not be dropping the price of the machine again this year, something it has always said it would do. So, if the company said it will make one strategic price cut in 2001, then makes a meagre non-strategic cut, followed by the announcement that it wont be making further price reductions, what does that tell us? Surely that the £30 price cut has replaced the much greater cut we all expected.
It makes perfect sense for Sony to do this and it now seems clear that the whole thing has been a well-executed marketing exercise. Sony has engineered a situation where by it positions itself snugly alongside Nintendo. The GameCube will most likely be priced at £200 and will sell like Billy-O whatever anyone else does. By the time the GameCube and the Xbox launch, the PlayStation 2 will come equipped with Gran Turismo 3 and Metal Gear Solid 2, with many more AAA titles in the pipeline. That leaves one big question: Who wants an Xbox at three hundred currency units?
This strategy means Sony leaves Microsoft out in the cold while, at the same time, getting a more than reasonable price for what will be an eighteen month old console. It’s not so great for you guys but that’s the games industry for you.
Companies:
SCEE
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