According to figures released by research analyst NPD, Sony's PlayStation 3 games console has seen a year-on-year sales slump of almost 25 percent in January 2009. In January 2008 the company sold 269,000 units in the US, whilst this year the figure is just over 203,000 units. Many would suggest that this slow-down in performance is attributable to the global economic downturn, others may assume that because these next generation games consoles have been on the market for well over two years there has been a resulting drop-off in demand. Despite these seemingly obvious explanations, it seems that the problem is Sony-specific. The same report also revealed that sales of the Microsoft Xbox 360 grew 25.5 percent to 309,000 units in January 2009, whilst Nintendo's Wii made an even greater gain with sales up 59.5 percent to 676,000 units. So what are the reasons for these opposing sales figures? In my opinion there are two major factors.
The first is the Sony consoles relatively high price. Despite it being on the market since October 2006 we have only seen one price drop and that was from what I feel was an unrealistically high launch price. The current recommended retail price of a PS3 is almost double that of an Xbox 360 Premium or a Nintendo Wii. It is true that you get more for your money with the PS3, notably an integrated Blu-ray player and wireless connectivity, but for the consumer who just wants to play games the current price is a major hurdle. Sony has to lower prices to compete, but even at the current retail price it is widely reported that they are still loosing money on each unit sold. Until they can engineer to the console to be produced at a much lower cost I would assume they are better off selling fewer consoles but at a higher price in order to minimise their loss on each unit. The downside of this is more of their competitors consoles, games and accessories being sold resulting in a lager user base for their rivals. Maybe it is in Sony's interest to sell more units but at a loss simply to gain market share, although I'm sure this is only something Sony themselves can decide.
The second factor that I feel contributes to the poor sale performance is the PlayStation's integrated Blu-ray drive. Since the Blu-ray formats launch the PlayStation 3 has been commonly renowned as the best and cheapest Blu-ray player on the market, a title it held for some two years. Why would consumers buy a much more expensive but inferior stand-alone player when they could just get a PS3? Perhaps a lot of the early sales were not from gamers but from movie fans. It is only in the last few months that this situation has been reversed. Stand alone Blu-ray players from the likes of Sony themselves and Panasonic have stolen the advantage away from the PS3 with cheaper players, better performance and much better aesthetics. After all, the PS3 isn't exactly a style icon.
It appears to me that despite its best intentions Sony has found itself in a predicament with the PS3. There is no doubt it's a fantastic piece of technology, but its production cost and hence retail cost maybe more of a detraction amongst consumers than its technical specification is an attraction
The author of this article, Mac Jones, runs the website gadgets-4-free.co.uk. Here you will find tips on receiving the latest technology such as a free PS3 console or a free iPod touch. The site includes the latest console related tech news complete with regular new content. We look forward to providing you with the best gadget advice on the web. Please visit us today.
A net 263,000 jobs were eliminated in September, pushing the jobless rate to a 26-year high. The rate of unemployment plus underemployment -- representing workers whose hours were cut back -- is 17%.The nation's unemployment rate edged closer to double digits in September but only began to reflect the miserable reality confronting America's workforce.
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