Sir Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony (SNE), probably give the FT a lot of interviews because of his British title. In the latest one, Stinger said that the company is looking for ways to cut the price of the PS3 based on trying to “refine” how much it could afford to come down.
Sir Howard and his green eye-shades better pick up the pace of refining their numbers. PS3 is being beaten to death in the open market, especially by the success of the Nintendo Wii. Sony was 500,000 units light on its PS3 shipments last year when compared to projections. The game platform is being routed in the US, Japan, and Europe. The fact that, with the base unit and a couple of controllers, the PS3 can cost upwards of $750 does not help.
Sony hopes to ship 11 million PS3s this year. Stringer indicates that Sony may cut the unit’s price by $100 for the holiday season. That could be too late. The demand for the Wii and Xbox 360 could be so overwhelming by then that game publishers, the folks who design video games, may be pushing their products to these two platforms.
If Sony does not make its price move soon, even if it means some short-term loses, the game may be over.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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