PS3 Price Doubles Sales

The introduction of the 40GB PlayStation 3 has dramatically boosted the sales of the console since even its announcement, Sony chief Sir Howard Stringer observed late yesterday. Although the Blu-ray based system had only been selling between 30,000 and 40,000 consoles before the news, sales jumped to about 75,000 within two weeks after the announcement and an included price drop for the 80GB model to $499. The availability of the $399 40GB model increased sales once again to over 100,000. This indicates that a "turning point has been passed" in terms of acceptance of the console after taking criticism for the high price ever since the launch last year, Stringer says.

The Sony executive added that it should be "fortunate" that Nintendo expects a shortage of its Wii game system and may give the PlayStation a chance to recuperate after months of being largely eclipsed by its less expensive rival. The Xbox 360 has also frequently outsold the Sony console due in part to prices that top out no higher than $479 for the flagship Xbox 360 Elite system.

In addition, the sales boom is predicted to put Blu-ray "vastly ahead" of HD DVD in terms of the total number of users, says Sony marketing chief Andrew House. Although a $99 HD DVD player deal at Wal-Mart sold over 90,000 devices and is widely believed to have been prompted by Toshiba to increase HD DVD numbers, over 5 million PlayStation 3 consoles have been sold to date and are believed to be a major factor in Blu-ray's overall marketshare as many customers buy the system either for movies alone or for gaming as well.

By Electronista Staff