It's come to my attention that premature pricing information has become the new PS3 topic these days.
Don't take these pricing estimates seriously. We already know the price will be just a tad higher than the Xbox360 and as soon as it hits the market Microsoft will announce a price reduction on its console. This rumor came from a Sony exec who allegedly told a French radio station the price of the PS3 would be around 499 - 599 Euros which translates to something between $600 to $750 in Freedom dollars.
Soon afterward Sony came out with damage control and told the press that the numbers given by the exec to French radio were actually for a Blu-ray player and not the PS3 and that the numbers given were US dollars. What all this means is we still don't know what the PS3 will cost and any speculation at this time is mostly an idle waste of time.
An analyst at Forrest Research has said that Sony is probably going to keep the price of PS3 down to stay competitive with the Xbox360.
Duh-uh!
Did it really take a business research think-tank to come up with the idea that since PS3 and Xbox360 are competitors? Of course Sony will take a loss to sell their console at a price close to that of 360's.
Sony recently announced a delay in the PS3's release to the end of next year. I think it's safe to say that cost was the factor in the decision to delay the product. You didn't actually believe Sony's B.S. about the AACS not defining the content protection specification soon enough did you? Maybe Sony's fax machine was broken the day the memo went out that the AACS did indeed complete the HD content protection specification months before Sony made their PS3 is delayed announcement. None of this stopped Samsung from developing a Blu-ray player that's to be released in June.
Herein lies the problem: Sony developed the blue - print for a 2007 technology that includes HDMI & Blu-ray back in 2005 and announced that it would be available in the spring of '06. Meanwhile competitor Microsoft (Xbox360) developed a fair '06 technology that includes component video & DVD although delayed is now being released.
Blu-ray is an expensive cutting edge technology and it's always been my opinion that Sony jumped the gun trying to include it.
Samsung's BD-P1000, the new Blu-ray player that'll be released in June is going to cost a grand $US. New technology doesn't come cheap. Sony HAD to delay the release of the PS3 and make up a lame excuse (AACS content protection, indeed). What was Sony's option?
Sony's options circa Q4-2005 for the fast approaching spring '06 PS3 debut:
Sell a $500 network enabled Blu-ray player that also plays games at a gut wrenching loss. Just think… everybody would be buying a Blu-ray player at half price. Sony would have racked up debt faster than a Republican president.
Or …
Sell a $1000 game console and just hand victory in the console game war over to Microsoft. While a $1000 PS3 wouldn't sink the franchise it would certainly kill its chances of capturing the casual gamer or the mom and pop customer buying a console for little jr.
What is certain about Sony's price for the PS3.
1/ We don't know for sure what it'll cost. But Sony's PS3 isn't really just a next-gen console. It's a next gen and a half console. It's not comparable to Xbox360 so expect it to be priced a bit higher. By the end of the year the PS3 will be probably be released at around the present price of the 360 just before Microsoft drops its price.
2/ Sony will take an acceptable loss on the cost of PS3's manufacture just like Microsoft is willing to take an acceptable loss on the manufacture of the Xbox360. But it won't commit the business hari-kari or kill it's own Blu-ray partners by releasing an alternative to the BD-P1000 at half the price.