Sony looking at a new pricing budgeting strategy
Kotaku brings us this news.
Ya think, Sony? The initial high price is a problem. The majority of consumers will not buy based on "potential" or the inclusion of a bunch of features they don't understand or won't use.
If I went to a car dealer, and they told me that a Geo Metro had the potential to have 500hp and still get 30mpg, I would laugh at them. Sure, with some mechanical development and time, it might happen. While that analogy is extreme, the uneducated consumer will not see it as such.
Even though the 60GB version is the top seller, they should have stuck with the lesser sku from the get-go and brought out the "greater" version down the road. The problem is that Kutaragi stuck his foot in his mouth when he promised such a ridiculous featureset. Once they found it unrealistic, they end up just looking bad on backing out of promises and claims.
Blu-ray was a jumping-the-gun situation. Comparisons to DVD and the PS2 were everywhere, but that situation was different. I know from my experience, we were well on our way into DVD before the PS2 even arrived. Blu-ray doesn't have that luxury, and it costs 3 times as much respectively. HD demand is perceived and not actual in my opinion. Most people I know...don't really care all that much.
Obviously, Sony has the supply part down...now they need to work on the demand. Without some top-tier games to compete with the Xbox 360's plethora of titles (Resistance isn't good enough), they just don't seem like a good buy right now. Blu-ray's extremely low percentage of sales (compared to regular DVD) isn't exactly help either.
Sony isn't doomed, but they are going to need to use their thinking caps seriously. Good move on getting Ken out of the picture though.
Update: Sony says they're not lowering the price.
Ya think, Sony? The initial high price is a problem. The majority of consumers will not buy based on "potential" or the inclusion of a bunch of features they don't understand or won't use.
If I went to a car dealer, and they told me that a Geo Metro had the potential to have 500hp and still get 30mpg, I would laugh at them. Sure, with some mechanical development and time, it might happen. While that analogy is extreme, the uneducated consumer will not see it as such.
Even though the 60GB version is the top seller, they should have stuck with the lesser sku from the get-go and brought out the "greater" version down the road. The problem is that Kutaragi stuck his foot in his mouth when he promised such a ridiculous featureset. Once they found it unrealistic, they end up just looking bad on backing out of promises and claims.
Blu-ray was a jumping-the-gun situation. Comparisons to DVD and the PS2 were everywhere, but that situation was different. I know from my experience, we were well on our way into DVD before the PS2 even arrived. Blu-ray doesn't have that luxury, and it costs 3 times as much respectively. HD demand is perceived and not actual in my opinion. Most people I know...don't really care all that much.
Obviously, Sony has the supply part down...now they need to work on the demand. Without some top-tier games to compete with the Xbox 360's plethora of titles (Resistance isn't good enough), they just don't seem like a good buy right now. Blu-ray's extremely low percentage of sales (compared to regular DVD) isn't exactly help either.
Sony isn't doomed, but they are going to need to use their thinking caps seriously. Good move on getting Ken out of the picture though.
Update: Sony says they're not lowering the price.
posted by SuicideNinja at 9:59 AM
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