Is a PS3 price cut the only option for Sony?

A recent article from Digital Home explores the options (or lack of it) for Sony in the console wars where the PlayStation 3 is still behind the Wii and the Xbox 360. The article focuses on Sony’s gamble on the console as a primary product and the Blu-ray as a primary format.

According to the article, the PS3 is currently Sony’s most important product; its flagship that would make or break the company. Sony also integrated its Blu-ray format into the console. The Blu-ray, however, is in a format war that’s relatively just as fierce as the one raging with the consoles.

Now here lies the crux: should the PS3 not live up to its promise and totally fail in the gaming market, not only would it cost Sony its flagship but also its primary weapon in the format wars. The fall of the PS3 would not only take down Sony’s place in the gaming industry but it will bring down the Blu-ray as well, which is critical to Sony’s future.

The solution Digital Home offers is that Sony should offer price cuts for the PS3. A price cut would lower profits, but it would sell more consoles and would invariably give the Blu-ray an advantage in the market. Not only would the Sony carry profits from sales of PS3’s but from Blu-ray format movies as well.

Gloom and doom aside though, the end is still nowhere in site for the console wars and it may still be a little early to tell whether Digital Home’s prediction will come to pass. The consoles have not yet seen a full year of combat and the market is still expecting games that might change the direction of the market.

As Sony always points out, when the PlayStation 2 was released it had the same problems as the PS3 but now it’s remains as the most played console, even more than the next gens. We’ll have to wait and see what’s in store for Sony’s future and whether we’ll see a PS3 price cut or not.

Via Digital Home

A recent article from Digital Home explores the options (or lack of it) for Sony in the console wars where the PlayStation 3 is still behind the Wii and the Xbox 360. The article focuses on Sony’s gamble on the console as a primary product and the Blu-ray as a primary format.

According to the article, the PS3 is currently Sony’s most important product; its flagship that would make or break the company. Sony also integrated its Blu-ray format into the console. The Blu-ray, however, is in a format war that’s relatively just as fierce as the one raging with the consoles.

Now here lies the crux: should the PS3 not live up to its promise and totally fail in the gaming market, not only would it cost Sony its flagship but also its primary weapon in the format wars. The fall of the PS3 would not only take down Sony’s place in the gaming industry but it will bring down the Blu-ray as well, which is critical to Sony’s future.

The solution Digital Home offers is that Sony should offer price cuts for the PS3. A price cut would lower profits, but it would sell more consoles and would invariably give the Blu-ray an advantage in the market. Not only would the Sony carry profits from sales of PS3’s but from Blu-ray format movies as well.

Gloom and doom aside though, the end is still nowhere in site for the console wars and it may still be a little early to tell whether Digital Home’s prediction will come to pass. The consoles have not yet seen a full year of combat and the market is still expecting games that might change the direction of the market.

As Sony always points out, when the PlayStation 2 was released it had the same problems as the PS3 but now it’s remains as the most played console, even more than the next gens. We’ll have to wait and see what’s in store for Sony’s future and whether we’ll see a PS3 price cut or not.

Via Digital Home