The consumer electronics giant claims that the reason the console is lagging behind the Xbox 360 is due to its high pricing policy during the its launch period.
The PlayStation 3 was released a full year after its fiercest rival, the Xbox 360. Many analysts claimed that the consoles late arrival, coupled with its high price during the launch window cost the console big time when it came capturing the market early on.
Nintendo was flying during that time, selling more consoles than the PS3 and Xbox 360 combined, however, in terms of delivering a core gaming experience, Microsoft was well in the lead. As content began to build up for the PlayStation 3, things began to look better for the console yet the real catalyst for the boost in the PS3 sales recently has been the price cut.
Sony slashed PlayStation 3 prices to $299 and launched an extensive advertisement campaign, the results of which bore plenty of fruit as the console has finally caught up with its American competitor.
John Koller, the head of marketing at Sony, responded to questions regarding the policy the company adopted during the early days of the PS3’s lifecycle. Koller pointed out that Sony felt the pricing was fair based on what the PlayStation 3 had to offer, not just in terms of gaming but as a complete home entertainment package.
He said, “I think we’ve been very staunch in our belief that there’s a certain value behind the PS3 and there’s certain kinds of games for the PS3 that have stood behind that.”
Koller also acknowledged the fact that Sony did lose ground early on because of the fact that their console was priced higher than the competition.
“There’s no secret that we opened behind a high price point. And certainly others got a relatively nice head start on us because of that.” However, he also acknowledged the fact that he was satisfied with how the sales figures have grown over time, as well as how the consumers took to the PlayStation 3 exclusives as well.
He said, “We’ve been pleased with overall sales. And also very pleased with just how well the consumers who have purchased PS3s have attached and buy software. We’ve been very pleased.”
Console sales were boosted by the release of titles such as Uncharted, Gran Turismo 5, LittleBigPlanet and God of War.
Looking back at the whole cycle, Koller admitted he had no regrets and that the lifecycle of the PlayStation 3 has been a success story.
“But we absolutely have no regrets. This has been a very good cycle for us.”
Lessons learned for the PlayStation 4?
However, one has to wonder if the company has learned from the mistakes made in during the PS3’s launch period and whether or not it will adopt a different policy for when the PlayStation 4 is released.
As for the PlayStation 4 itself, well it seems that Sony has remained tight-lipped on the matter but it will be interesting to see the pricing point of the console when it is announced.
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