PS3 died just a little today
It’s been fun to poke fun at, but this may be cause for at least minor concern. The PS3 has been officially on sale for not quite 5 Months (Nov. 17, 2006 to April 11, 2007) to be quite exact, and while the PS3 20Gb unit has seen diminishing support from retailers, today Sony has pulled the plug. Joystiq caught the buzz straight from Sony’s Dave Karraker:
“At launch, we offered two separate models of PlayStation 3 to meet the diverse needs and interests of our PlayStation fan base. Initial retail demand in North America was upwards of ninety percent in favor of the 60GB SKU, so we manufactured and shipped-in accordingly. Due to the overwhelming demand for the 60GB model from both retailers and consumers, we have ceased offering the 20GB model here in North America. In addition to the larger internal hard drive, the 60GB PlayStation 3 features added storage media slots and built-in Wi-Fi not found in the 20GB system. Based on retailer and consumer feedback, we have decided to focus our current efforts on the more popular 60GB model.”
My serious concerns are as follows. The Playstation 3 is already in a price league of its own, and this slashing has caused that price gap to increase significantly. At this point in time Sony should be slashing the prices. Secondly the Xbox has been able to do well with two different systems for a much longer time and no end to that model is in sight. Infact they have decided to introduce a third one to the mix. Is the PS3 even reaching price conscience consumers if the cheaper version wasn’t selling, and isn’t that a major concern or will we all forget about this in a few years?
Either way, a piece of the Playstation 3 just died today, and that certainly can’t be a good sign 5 months in.