Sony CEO Says Company Looking to 'Refine' PS3 Price

June 14, 2007 | By: James Brightman

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In what is probably the strongest sign yet from Sony that we will see a price cut before the year ends, Sony CEO Howard Stringer has praised the Wii's business model and stated that Sony is looking at how to "refine" the PS3's price. More within...

In a new interview with the Financial Times, Sir Howard Stringer, Sony's chairman and chief executive, has revealed that Sony is finally giving the price of the PlayStation 3 a very close look. It's no secret that the price ($600) has been a major hindrance to the console's sales. This generation has shown that consumers are far more price sensitive than previously thought. Even Microsoft's Xbox 360 has been held back somewhat by its $400 price tag. The 360 sold only 155K units this May.

And while Nintendo's Wii has done well and attracted new users with its motion-sensing functionality, it's clear that its $250 price is its biggest advantage. Both Microsoft and Sony are now coming to grips with that.

Stringer said the Wii has a "very good business model" but when compared to the PS3, he views the two platforms as "complementary and supplementary."

"Nintendo Wii has been a successful enterprise, and a very good business model, compared with ours . . . because it's cheaper," he acknowledged in the video interview. "That [price cuts] is what we are studying at the moment. That's what we are trying to refine."

When asked if Sony would come up with an answer by Christmas, Stringer responded, "Yes, of course."

Most analysts seem to think that Sony will "refine" the PS3 price by $100 before the end of this calendar year. Some believe the price cut could come as early as this summer, while others have speculated that it would precede the release of the highly anticipated GTA IV this October.

Stringer added that he expects "energy [in PS3 sales] by Christmas, and then you will begin to see break-out games." His sentiments seem to echo those of SCEA CEO Jack Tretton who recently wrote on PlayStation.blog about the great games and the online service Home that are in the pipeline.

Stringer said that developers on PS3 are only using about 20 percent of the "bandwidth" of the console, and that it takes time to be able to leverage the system's power, but that once they do "it looks stunning."

Ultimately, Stringer remarked that "PS3's travails will be solved by time."