John-ShepardLast year's price drop for the PlayStation 3 kicked off a hardware sales spike and ever since, Sony's console has been flourishing.
This, combined with the fact that Sony still needs to make up for earlier losses, means you shouldn't expect another price cut any time soon. According to what Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida told IGN , the company is finally turning a profit on every PS3 they sell, so they're not in any big rush to slash the price again. He says that 2010 marks the first year Sony is able to "cover the cost of the PlayStation 3," mostly due to the new consoles that boast smaller and more cost-efficient graphics chips. The company's goal right now is to replenish retail stock that has been on the low end since January, which obviously means people are buying the unit. So why drop the price? Said Yoshida:
"When we bring the cost of hardware down, we are looking at opportunities to adjust prices if we believe that will increase demand. At the moment, we are trying to catch up our production. We have lots of great games coming out and innovations with Move and 3DTV, so we don't believe this is the time for us to think about a price drop."
But that doesn't mean new consumers are out of luck for this year's holiday season; Sony may decide to offer a variety of console bundles, especially those that include Move-related items. We already know about the one that features the Move controller, PlayStation Eye and Sports Champions for $399, but look for more special packages as 2010 rolls on.