Sony Contemplates Another PS3 Price Cut

While it appears Sony will definitely cut the price of its PlayStation 3 game console (with an internal Blu-ray Disc drive) in the near future, how much of a price point drop is still uncertain.

Howard Stringer, Sony’s CEO, has told The Financial Times that a PS3 price cut “is what we are studying at the moment. That’s what we are trying to refine.”

Although in one important retail category, PS3 sales give Sony a clear advantage in the disc war between Blu-ray and HD DVD, in the other retail realm of highly competitive video game consoles, Stringer acknowledged that Sony is facing stiff competition from rival Nintendo and its Wii, which is priced far lower than either the PS3 or Microsoft’s Xbox 360--in part, because it’s the only next-gen game console to not include a Blu-ray (as does PS3) or HD DVD drive. (Xbox offers an HD DVD drive as an add-on, and may include internal drives in some models by the holiday selling season next fall.)

Sony already cut the price of the PS3 in Japan by about 20 percent before it launched last fall, but it’s still priced noticeably higher than the competition.