Sony on the offensive: Two execs slam PS3 price cut talk

Demands for a PS3 price cut are close to reaching a boiling point, but two notable heads of Sony, Jack Tretton and Sir Howard Stringer, seem determined to have the price stay right where it is.

Looks like Sony may be just as frustrated with their current situation as gamers are, as both sides of the battle are steadfast in their beliefs over the PS3's current price tag. In terms of a price cut, gamers have loudly shouted "Yea", while Sony has clearly shouted back with a deafening "Nay." So, what's the deal here? What's keeping Sony from dropping the price, say $100?

Well, you may find your answers from Sony's president and CEO of Sony America, Jack Tretton and Sony's chairman, president and CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, who both spoke out in separate interviews about the problems of a price cut.

Sony on the offensive: two execs slam PS3 price cut talk

Sony head Jack Tretton speaks out about a PS3 price cut and Sony's long term goals.

During and interview with Fast Company, Jack Tretton spoke about how Sony is looking long term, say 10 years long term in trying to grab consumers.

"People are having short-term thinking - the platform is not even three years old. It was $599; it's now $399," he said. "The focus on pricing is something we appreciate, but you have to have the conviction and the confidence that you are on the right path for the long term and ultimately you'll get all the consumers you want. You won't get them all day one, but we're looking to get them over a 10-year period. It's going to take different things to get different consumers."

Sony seems pretty stubborn about this 10-year plan, for better or for worse, but with the current economic situation, who knows how long this plan can hold out. However, Tretton seemed confident that this year would be better than the last, citing their upcoming digital media, especially for the PSPgo, and the PS3's versatility and "tremendous value."

Sony on the offensive: two execs slam PS3 price cut talk

Sony head Sir Howard Stringer speaks bluntly about a PS3 price cut.

That "tremendous value" might not be seen by all however, including game developers, as last June Activision CEO and president Bobby Kotick spoke out about the system, saying:

"If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony. When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console - and the PSP too." - Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision

Tough words, but in an Interview conducted with Reuters, Sony boss Sir Howard Stringer didn't seem too concerned about the threat and had a response to Kotick's statement, saying:

"He likes to make a lot of noise. He's putting pressure on me and I'm putting pressure on him. That's the nature of business."

A lot of people are fearing Sony's "nature of business" as of late, and when asked about the logic of not cutting the PS3's price, Stringer stated:

"I (would) lose money on every PlayStation I make - how's that for logic."

These are tough time my friends and it seems it may get a bit tougher if Sony holds to this 10-year plan of theirs. "Logically" it would make more sense for Sony to invest in a product that was more efficient and didn't cost so much to produce and sell (How's that for logic?). But, hopefully, if rumors are to be believed, Sony may be simply trying to cover for a rumored upcoming "PS3 slim" which would cost way less to produce and sell on the market. Let us hope this is the case, because if it isn't, gamers "10-year plan" may be to avoid Sony all together.

To read the full interviews and articles with Jack Tretton and Sir Howard Stringer, check out Fast Company and Reuters.

ALSO READ: Activision could drop PS3 for good, says 'we might have to stop supporting Sony'
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Comments [103]

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jstern

I don't think the heads of Sony have even ever played a video game. I miss the days when video game makers also made the systems, and exclusives were made by Nintendo or Sega, not bought to keep a game that would've come out on both system exclusive to one.

Blessedboy92

wow Sony's two exec's are some stubborn people I tell you. Sony needs 2 drop the price on the PS3. that bullcrap about not lowering it saying that it would make them lose money is really stupid for them 2 say. look at the xbox360. it has it's problems but still it continues 2 lower it prices to make customers happy. wow Sony needs 2 be slap in the face to make them wake up and see that gaming industry is about 2 stop making games for them. esp. after what Activision said.

CosmicDeadly

Greedy pigs.

No one wants to play on the PS3 cause of a long chain.
1. Price is high so no one buys it
2. Developers don't make many good games for the PS3 because no one buys it because of #1
3. No one buys the PS3 also because no developers make good games for it. (there are still some).
It's a long circle Sony. Just drop the prices, you're not proving anything.

war02orc

wow, I can't believe people still complain about the price. Yeah, it's a lot of money but you get a lot out of it. My PS3 the most used piece of electronic equipment (excluding the TV which is required by the PS3 and my PC which is always on, regardless of whether or not I'm actually using it) and that is because it does everything that the rest of my gear does in one package. COmbine the cost of the seperate "devices" that the ps3 includes and you will be paying more than $400 for it.

As for the 10-year plan, I don't see how that has anything to do with price cuts. If everything followed a timed plan on pricing then companies would never make any money when their products came around in time to drop in price. "Oh, this game is 3 months old, and has to have a price cut, even though it's selling like crazy." yeah. That makes sense. Sony, if you actively refuse to drop the price at least give a believable reason.

denveraic

Go ahead, keep the prices up. It's your ass Sony. Your install base will continue to stall.

denveraic

war02orc wrote:

wow, I can't believe people still complain about the price. Yeah, it's a lot of money but you get a lot out of it. My PS3 the most used piece of electronic equipment (excluding the TV which is required by the PS3 and my PC which is always on, regardless of whether or not I'm actually using it) and that is because it does everything that the rest of my gear does in one package. COmbine the cost of the seperate "devices" that the ps3 includes and you will be paying more than $400 for it.
As for the 10-year plan, I don't see how that has anything to do with price cuts. If everything followed a timed plan on pricing then companies would never make any money when their products came around in time to drop in price. "Oh, this game is 3 months old, and has to have a price cut, even though it's selling like crazy." yeah. That makes sense. Sony, if you actively refuse to drop the price at least give a believable reason.

What people like you don't get. PEOPLE CAN'T AFFORD IT. You act as if everyone has $400 dollars laying around to burn on entertainment. Well everyone doesn't. It's not like people just have tons of money to burn, and will spend it on anything......except a PS3. The economy, as we all know is on hard times. Families can't spend that kind of cash on a gaming systems with a Blu Ray player. So people go after the Wii. Sony needs to cut their price if they want to stick around in the gaming market. If they don't have a price cut this year, it is pretty clear that they won't be around making consoles.

Duke_Nukem

True the price has went down since its initial launch but they also neglected to mention that they stripped some of its features ie PS2 backwards compatibility(which may be coming back via update), memory card slots, and only 2 usb ports....... On the plus side though they did start packaging them with dualshock 3 controllers but still..........

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