Amidst analyst reports claiming that Sony may go from best to worst in the next-gen console wars, Ubisoft boss, Yves Guillemot, claims that Sony has to be prepared to lower the PS3 price in 2007 if it is to make an impact with its new console.
DFC Intelligence, an entertainment market research firm, has released a report that claims that there is the, ...distinct possibility the PlayStation 3 could end up third in market share behind both the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. The report suggests that Sony has not made a convincing case for the superiority its USD 600 machine will offer and is in danger of losing out unless it can do so in the few months left until the PS3's mid-November launch.
Sony has done very little to justify why the system is worth a premium price for consumers that don't care about raw hardware performance and are not hard-core audio/visual consumers, says David Cole, who signs the DFC report, in his forecast. Unfortunately we believe that represents over 90 percent of the consumers in the marketplace.
In the report it is made clear that Sony is running the danger of marginalizing its console as a high-end item. This, it is suggested, will provide a market for the console but cannot do enough to help it win the next-gen console war. The example used by the report is that of the PSP which has struggled in Japan while the cheaper, simpler Nintendo DS has thrived.
The author of the report also claims that the PS2 succeeded as it offered consumers a complete entertainment solution for a competitive price. The report also suggests that Sony may be losing some of the extensive third party support the PS2 enjoyed. Some evidence that third party support for PS3 may be wavering comes from the loss of GTA exclusivity, recent comments by developers regarding Sony's lack of support and comments made to Bloomberg by Ubisoft president, Yves Guillemot.
The Ubisoft boss has stated that he expects initial demand for PlayStation 3 to be high but believes that the price will become an issue in the following months and may decide the console wars. He suggests that Sony should lower the PS3 price within 2007 if it is to survive. Mr. Guillemot has claimed that 2007 will be the year where console supremacy will be decided and the winner should receive the lion's share of the 40 million next-gen consoles Ubi believes will be sold in 2008.
