Analyst Says Sony Should Consider PS3 Price Cut

Still paying $399 for your PS3s? Some say you shouldn’t be.

Microsoft’s recent price cut of the Xbox 360 appears to be boosting system sales, while a lack of any cuts for the PS3 is expected to hurt Sony during the holiday season, according to EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich. Without a PS3 price drop prior to the Christmas rush, he predicts Sony will lose major sales to its competition.

In a research note published in advance of the release of September’s NPD sales data, Divnich predicts the PS3 will sell only 215,000 units versus the Xbox 360’s 320,000 for the month. Sony’s PSP is expected to sell 235,000 units. In comparison, Nintendo is coming out on top with expected sales of 600,000 units each for both its Wii and DS systems.

“The $399 price point is simply too steep to entice the casual and mainstream markets, regardless of how great Resistance 2 and LittleBigPlanet may be,” says Divnich on the PS3. He also notes the Xbox 360 is showing an anticipated 31 percent increase in sales over the previous month, which he largely attributes to its drop in price. “For the PS3, we expect weekly sales to decrease by seven percent to 43,000 units a week.”

Divnich is urging Sony to consider a price reduction for the PS3 this holiday season. But will they listen?