Obscure researcher finds PS3 price acceptance from small online sample

by Blake Snow { Oct 11th 2006 at 4:45PM }

A new 100 page media report was released today by a small research firm suggesting that a large majority of US consumers are okay with paying $500-600 for a shiny black PS3 next month at launch. This is the second positive look at the PS3 in as many days despite Sony's "we don't need no stinkin' publicity" attitude.

Next-Gen reports: "According to the study by Los Angeles based Interpret, 8.9 million U.S consumers 'are prepared' to pay full price ($500 or $600) for the PlayStation 3 this fall, compared to 5.7 million consumers who are willing to buy Wii at $250 and just 800,000 people who are willing to pay full price for Xbox 360 ($300 to $400)."

The data comes from a sample of 2,000 online interviews conducted with 12-54 year-olds and weighted against 2004 census data. The study also proposes that Wii will be the spoiler to Sony's and Microsoft's market share party citing strong interest from a "wide distribution across ages and gender" as opposed to just younger or older hard core gamers.

Some other notable findings from the research:

People are waiting to see the PS3 before buying a 360 or Wii
Microsoft is still only attracting very hardcore gamers with 360
Key driver for consumer purchases of new consoles are games (especially exclusives) not multimedia capabilities

[Thanks, Jo and vaylen]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Tim @ Oct 11th 2006 4:53PM

2000 doesn't really qualify as a "small" sample, assuming they know how to do proper statistics. The "online" aspect certainly introduces bias, though. Bit of a sensationalistic headline.

Proud to be a Wiitard @ Oct 11th 2006 4:55PM

havent over 800,000 people already proven that they are willing to pay full price for a 360?

Steve @ Oct 11th 2006 4:55PM

I don't believe it. How can Sony mess up this bad and still have the public on there side. I have a 360 and I think it's great. I don't see any reason to get a PS3. I've owned a PS2 and a PS1. But not time around. I don't need to waste the extra cash on Bluray. I'm confused.

Mr. Khan @ Oct 11th 2006 4:56PM

Well, it makes sense from the past standpoint, but i bet that of those 8.9 million which are not rabid sony fans are merely following fan loyalty from the PS2...

Hey, i bet the N64 had similar results back in the day, before the dominance of the PSX

kodec @ Oct 11th 2006 4:58PM

Those who accept the price and those who are planning to buy one for the sole purpose of eBaying it for a 300% profit are probably hugely overlapping groups of people. To think, Sony is selling these at a pretty decent loss just to have a good chunk of the launch units get re-sold for amounts that Sony would need to sell it for in the first place in order to break even.

They should prohibit eBay from allowing sales of their hardware until it's been on the shelf for at least three months - but that's just my opinion.

rthie330 @ Oct 11th 2006 4:59PM

Too bad for those 8.9 million willing PS3 buyers that there are only going to be, what 400k at launch? And how many by the end of the year?

Sony paying people off @ Oct 11th 2006 4:59PM

What kind of nonsense is this. The Xbox 360 has just passed 7 Million units sold worldwide and they are saying that only 800,000 people are willing to buy an Xbox 360 and thats it?

Are you nucking futz.

Regula Oblique @ Oct 11th 2006 5:00PM

They can mess up this bad and still have the public on their side because, majority of the public dont browse these blogs 24/7. if even at all, so all this news that we hear that sounds so bad for sony isnt even a problem, because peeps will still buy it.

Demon_Can_Whoop @ Oct 11th 2006 5:00PM

Why is it when the wii wins an analysts opinion, you guys boast it...and when a PS3 wins an analysts opinion, you shoot it down...

They are "ANALYST OPINIONS" whether it's positive or negative, whether you like it or hate it, it means jack squat!

Hypothetical Guesses FTW!

RoroCo @ Oct 11th 2006 5:01PM

@2... yeah... Great research there guys. What ever there sampling process is, it must have been created by a monkey.

Since well over 800,000 people have already bought the 360 at full price, the surveys results are utter crap.

RoroCo @ Oct 11th 2006 5:04PM

@ Flash... You haven't been banned yet? BTW.. calling th PS3's controller innovative is ammusing.

Amethyst @ Oct 11th 2006 5:04PM

#3, that number is based on a two-year old census and an unknown number of people in that 2,000 that they questioned. In short, I personally don't trust those numbers to mean that exact thing. If you check it out even, there aren't any ways to see the exact numbers and the like.

I'm not saying that those numbers aren't possible, I'm just saying that the lack of information that they're giving leaves them to be doubted.

ACE @ Oct 11th 2006 5:09PM

Flash you are an idiot. Of course the ps3 is the 'stronger' system, no one denies that. But i dont believe this post at all. Sony has screwed up big time, and i dont even like microsoft and i bought an xbox 360. you are one of the worst fanboys ive ever seen. it pisses me off when people cant admit that possibly other people have different oppinions besides theres.

SonyBlowsGoats @ Oct 11th 2006 5:09PM

@ 13.

Ha ha ha ha! Great system? Great games? Innovative CONTROLLER?!

Have you been sniffing glue? The PS3 is completley UNPROVEN; how can you say it is a great system. Idiot!

And calling the controller (the 'suxaxis', or whatever the hell it is called) innovative just proves your idiocy!

HA!

serb @ Oct 11th 2006 5:10PM

wow man u guys just cant take good news well, ur really getting annoying, just cuz u like the 360 doesnt mean that the other 6,499,999,999 ppl in the world have to
god its their money if they wanna spend it on a ps3 its their problem
@9
sonys paying ppl off? hahaahah ya, how many exclusives that were on the ps3 has ms bought....

Brock @ Oct 11th 2006 5:11PM

How many systems do you think sony will sell by the end of next year? Honestly, do you think they will have a problem getting even 10% of their current base to buy systems? I'd say they reach 40 million without a problem in a year and a half. But i am curious as to what you guys think?

Steve @ Oct 11th 2006 5:11PM

@Flash

Actually I've never been a MS fanboy. I've alway been a mac fanboy. But I think the 360 is the best thing MS has ever made. So sue me :)

LaughingTarget @ Oct 11th 2006 5:12PM

It is the online portion that really should raise some red flags. How were the candidates selected? Did they randomly toss out e-mails? How could they be sure they got a proper cross-section of the population? The Internet has proven to be the absolute worst method to gain any form of statistical data. All respondants have to approach the poll taker. A proper poll is done the other way around. Given that getting information over the Internet, be it e-mail or various IM addresses, usually requires the individual to provide it to the company or have it purchased via other online retailers. All that ends up happening is the research only grabs the portion of the population willing to provide their contact information to the company or entirely those who purchase products off the internet.

In any case, Interpret has unlikely gotten a quality cross-section of the population, and such results can and should be disregarded.

vaylen @ Oct 11th 2006 5:12PM

You can diss this report all you want, but it's a million times more scientific than the drivel reasons given on Joystiq for the PS3 NOT succeeding. Don't kill the messenger, just heed the message.

Omahagtp @ Oct 11th 2006 5:12PM

"Fagget go to the xbox forum, where they want to hear your lies, you M$ fanboy bitch"

LAWL.

Thank you. I got my internet fix for today.

rthie330 @ Oct 11th 2006 5:13PM

Just as a clarification for the survey and the Microsoft fanboys, the 800k for the 360 they're talking about are potential buyers this fall, not anyone who would be willing to purchase it (as 7 million or however many already have). Carry on with the survey bashing.

VampireHunter Z @ Oct 11th 2006 5:13PM

@Flash

Wow you really think the PS3 is that much better than the 360. Something tells me that you also see imaginary people.

joe smith @ Oct 11th 2006 5:14PM

As with any study like this, unless you see the details of the sampling methodology and the exact questions asked the numbers are pretty meaningless.

Is "prepared to pay" the same as "intend to buy?" Also, what is the exact period covered?

If we are only talking about the last 6 weeks of the year, then having 800,000 people wanting an Xbox 360 is pretty damned good considering it has already been on the market for a year.

The PS3 has no units on the market so teh study shows all the pent-up demand -- which of course can't be fulfilled by the relatively few units available during the holiday period.

The study is comparing apples to oranges. It might be more valid if they had data from when Xbox 360 launched.

As is, it mostly shows a bias toward PS3 over Wii. Which should be good news for Sony, except that coming out of holiday, Nintendo will be able to show much larger sales due to easier hardware availability.

Also, something to be thought about is what would the numbers look like if the price were lower? 8.9 Million sounds like a big number, but we have no way of knowing if it meanss anything without a comparison to a lower priced PS3. You can't do an elasticity study with one sample.

What this study mostly shows is that Sony and Wii will sell out for holiday -- which everyone already knew. And that Xbox 360 should also have a great year between committed purchasers and some percentage of folks looking for a PS3 that buy 360 when they can't get one. All in all, a great holiday for retail and all three companies -- and consumers who finally have choice.

The big question is what happens after that.

LaughingTarget @ Oct 11th 2006 5:14PM

Brock -

Sony won't pull that one off. The first two years of the PS2 showed worldwide sales averaging 1 million a month. It took a price drop to $200 and some big titles to double those sales. So, in a year and a half, the best the PS3 can possibly consider doing is 18 million units, though with that price, it is hard to imagine that many sold.

Majikphat @ Oct 11th 2006 5:15PM

I think it's awesome that Wii60 Fanboy Joystiq is finally reporting positive PS3 news without negative spin.

simchat_torah @ Oct 11th 2006 5:15PM

lol, PS3 controller innovative????

BUWHAHAHWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

And to #10 who said:
"They can mess up this bad and still have the public on their side because, majority of the public dont browse these blogs 24/7."

Yes genius, but GAMERS read blogs 24/7.

simchat_torah @ Oct 11th 2006 5:16PM

"Just as a clarification for the survey and the Microsoft fanboys, the 800k for the 360 they're talking about are potential buyers this fall, not anyone who would be willing to purchase it..."

I'm no xbox fanboi, but the fact remains that every major reputable industry analyst says that 360 is going to sell big this holiday season. Sooooo... take a gander in the mirror fanboi #97833451.

ACE @ Oct 11th 2006 5:16PM

@20

a million times? more scientific than the favt that sony is an idiot, their advertising sucks, they dont think when designing such things as a controller (thank god they changed that), and they lose stock faster than anything ive ever seen?

Todd @ Oct 11th 2006 5:17PM

It also said "it will be 2008 before PS3 has an installed base of over 12 million in the US". Doesn't sound like they expect it to sell as fast as the 360 is selling now.

darryl @ Oct 11th 2006 5:18PM

If Sony had 10 million units available this fall, they would still sell them all. Ofcourse it'll be a hot seller, it is clearly the best next-gen console by a huge margin.

Also, $500-600 is NOT a lot of money for what you get. I just bought a Canon camera for my Mom and it was over $500. What does it do? Takes pictures and small movie clips... that's it! How much does the top-of-the-line iPod go for these days? Pretty close to $500 I would bet. The PS3 at it's current price range is a STEAL! If you don't agree then the PS3 isn't for you, there are cheaper alternatives.

Brock @ Oct 11th 2006 5:19PM

@ LaughingTarget

That's interesting, so probably after 3 years when they drop it to 400 or even 300 should we expect the PS3 to sell lots? How many PS2's were sold at launch?

simchat_torah @ Oct 11th 2006 5:22PM

to #31:
I agree that 600 bucks ins't much money. However, the culture of the video game industry demands that this is too much money. You see, traditionally hardware sells at a loss and the profit is made up in game sales. Sony is hurting financially and must make a profit in the sale of the hardware. Considering this is anti-culture to the industry, it is going to deter A LOT of people.

Just take penny-arcade for example. They have flat out stated they WILL NOT be buying the console at its current price. This isn't out of the ordinary... this is a completely average response to Sony's pricing.

Booda @ Oct 11th 2006 5:22PM

"How much does the top-of-the-line iPod go for these days? Pretty close to $500 I would bet."

And, not suprisingly, you would be dead wrong. The new 80GB video iPod is $349.

Enycma @ Oct 11th 2006 5:23PM

Hey! darryl posted! And that Flash guy is posting too! (Think they are the same guy?) Gonna go get me some Popcorn, this'll get interesting. =0D

Pince @ Oct 11th 2006 5:24PM

that data seems incredibly skewed. By that count, PS3 should outsell the 360 by a margin of 11 to 1 and that just doesn't seem realistic...especially since the 360 is 200$ less.

That level of disparity isn't even remotely believable. There must be something wierd going on with this study.

simchat_torah @ Oct 11th 2006 5:24PM

azn, darryl, ethan, and a half dozen others (flash?) are KNOWN to be the same individual. We all know there aren't THIS many PS3 fans out there ;-)

crono141 @ Oct 11th 2006 5:25PM

Flash:

The PS3 is not your mother. You don't need to defend it like it is everytime someone says something bad about it.

aZn_1080p @ Oct 11th 2006 5:26PM

Not that surprising really, only surprising to fanboys and nerds who cling to desperate fantasies that overclocked gamecubes are 'next generation' and that M$ can deliver a diverse, edgy, cool, non-generic game lineup.

Everyone I know (except one whose little brother already got a 360, lol sucker!) is saving for PS3 and has been for some time. We've known the Next Generation of gaming is imminent for some time now, its not like it snuck up on you and you just realized that OMG I am gonna need $$$ to buy a PS3!! At most, we had to up our saving target by $100 or so. But for what we're getting in the box.... forget about it! Its the best deal in town...

RoroCo @ Oct 11th 2006 5:27PM

iPod/Camera pricing is not comparable as you do not need to buy a couple new $60 dollar pieces of software every month ot get enjoyment out of it.

The $600 dollars for the console is just its initial cost. For cameras and MP3 players, it is the entire cost (don't come back at me with music cost because that cost is insignificant even at iTunes pricing)...

Johnny B @ Oct 11th 2006 5:29PM

The company that did this survey is owned by sony, so ya.....

Enycma @ Oct 11th 2006 5:31PM

@simchat_torah

Ahhhhh! No wonder they all sound the same... You know... Rambling Ravaging Narrowminded $ony Fanboys! Think Sony pays them too?

(No hard feelings to the Sony Fanboys that are smart enough to accept that their chosen company is not making the right choices lately.)

Ally @ Oct 11th 2006 5:35PM

@ 31 darryl

"How much does the top-of-the-line iPod go for these days? Pretty close to $500 I would bet."

Actually its $349

"If Sony had 10 million units available this fall, they would still sell them all"

I think you are far too optomistic on that one, when you say they would sell them all, over what tine period? 1 year, 1 month?

"it is clearly the best next-gen console by a huge margin."

It does look impressive, but that is opinion, not FACT.

LaughingTarget @ Oct 11th 2006 5:36PM

Brock -

The information on Sony's site really isn't that well detailed, but in the US, the PS2 sold 1.46 million during the launch window (October 26, 2000 - December 31, 2000). Worldwide sales from the March 4, 2000 launch in that timeframe totalled 6.4 million in 2000 (10 months). That period averaged 640,000 units a month.

The best comparative information I have on the 360 is 5 million units sold in 7 months, or 714,000 units per month.

If anything, the 360 is showing to have a better first year than the PS2 did. The PS2 sold 10 million units in its first full year in operation, and the 360 is on track to match it.

So, to answer your question, I honestly don't know. The 360 is currently on-par with the first year PS2 despite launching $100 more expensive, so price isn't that big of a factor. However, we still don't know if the comparative price difference will be a big decision maker. I personally believe the $600 sticker price (to clarify to avoid fanboy flaming, consumers normally zero in on the most expensive option like they did by avoiding the $300 Core 360 and focusing on the $400 Premium) will hinder the sales a bit, though to a point where it will be either in parity or a few steps beyhind the 360.

Sales will defenitely double when the price gets slashed to $400 for the upper end system, though given Sony's financials, when that price cut comes is anyone's guess.

The Wii, on the other hand, that one I can't even imagine. My best guess is it will blow up in Japan like the DS did and post some healthy numbers everywhere else, but this is one of those wild-cards that truly can either bomb or destroy the PS3 and 360.

Jarrett @ Oct 11th 2006 5:38PM

There is an aspect to this no one has touched on..... Sony had the advantage on some exclusive titles. That drove some PS2 console sales...can we all agree on that..??
This time around it is not going to be like that. The days of having Grand Theft Auto all to themselves is done.
Here is another aspect...Sony has to have a flawless and I mean flawless launch. Here me out....if there is one hiccup like overheating, disk reading errors, Blu-Ray issues...the backlash will be felt on the second shipment. The bad press could kill the sales of the second shipment because until the bugs are resolved ...it is a waste of time because Sony customer service sucks. Can you imagine if the PS3 I just bought off of E-bay for 1,000-2,000 doesn't work and I can't get a replacement because there are no replacements???? The anger that will be displayed will be ugly.
Like I said Sony has to handle this really really well because they will be under the microscope without question.....

Proud to be a Wiitard @ Oct 11th 2006 5:41PM

If you don't like joystiq, then why are you here, flash? I want a real reason, not something stupid like "I [like] to remind everyone that the 360 is a P-O-S."
If everyone here is really so focused on xbox being so great like you seem to think, do you really think that calling people a "fagget" and calling them stupid and whatever is really going to make anyone even take you seriously for a second, let alone be persuaded by your "argument" (I use that word VERY loosely)