Sony underestimated 80GB PS3 demand

by Alexander Sliwinski on Apr 3rd 2008 1:45PM

Sony America VP of marketing, Scott Steinberg, admits in an extensive interview with GameDaily that the company underestimated the demand for the 80GB PS3. He says the $100 extra for the 80GB model at $499 didn't seem "that big of a deal" to certain consumers. Beyond the price and obvious drive space difference, the 80GB enjoys backwards compatibility with many PS2 games, which the 40GB does not.

Steinberg states Sony is replenishing the marketplace with the 80GB model and expects to see "mass market appeal" from the upcoming $500 Metal Gear Solid bundle. At a minimum, expect one significant change in future PS3 models with the Sixaxis being tossed out and the DualShock 3 becoming the new hotness.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Source

Tags: 80gb, demand, ps3, steinberg, underestimate

Reader Comments (76)

I have 80GB of turkey in my gut.

I love Metal Gear as much as the next gamer, but "mass market appeal" and Metal Gear do not belong in the same sentence together.

You just used them in the same sentence together...

^ Ha!

tou muthafuckin che'!

Old and busted... new hotness.

beat me to it.

Additionally, and perhaps coincidentally, the new hotness was driven with a dualshock 2.

The thing is, this is REAL desirability, not the fake desirability that Wii created, with it's self imposed supply issues... Or the totally invented supply issues that Microsoft made up..

Pretty cool that Nintendo can fake supply problems and still outsell the competition.

God, you're so full of crap, even The Poopsmith would be overwhelmed.

Well when they started getting rid of backwards compatibility I imagine many individuals freaked out said I need that and went and grabbed the 80 gig because it looked a lot like it was leaving... I even thought of breaking and getting it instead of waiting for it to be more in my price range..

Thats what I did with the 60 gig last year. Now it just stares at me all day at work until mgs4 comes out.

Me too. It's looking like, until MGS4, it'll keep being used for BR movies and PS2 games (I plan on replaying all the Metal Gear games before 4 drops.)

When I get done chopping off commie limbs in Dark Sector, that is. That game is CRAZY!

I feel Sony needs better US and EU feelers or at least ask the people in charge outside of Japan what gamers want. Right now I see the 360 doing stuff with the US gamer in mind, Nintendo is purely Japanese driven.
Cultures are different everywhere and all these companies shouldn't expect everyone to latch on to thier local expectations of what the ultimate game/feature/console is.

Beauty part about the PS3 HDD is that I can upgrade it with a common SATA drive of whatever size will fit. So in my eyes the purchase of the 60GB is perfect since I have all the goodies and the ability to go bigger later.

What is this, a [+] party?

@CB

You've got to understand the fundamental rule of the Joystiq comment section.

When someone gets voted down for trolling, the next few who follow (depending on the gravity of the primary comment) are going to get voted up to 3 hearts.

I call it the Rule of Greater Justice.

[+1] :P

Wait, so now they're bringing backwards compatibility BACK, then? Good lord.

The 80 GB has always had BC.

Yeeeeah. And they took it off the shelves.

You are too dumb to troll, please leave it to the professionals.

Hey El Doorknob, Martez is a little above that, but thanks for chiming in on a number of posts and being a complete tool.

SOUND it out, you're DELIGHTFUL, wow, why to RIP on people's POST with a condescending manner.

Well, when people, like Martez, come into a thread and spread absolute pure FUD, they need to be called out.

But I'm sorry I hurt your feelings emo-boy. Here, have some mascara, on me.

What FUD? They took the PS2-compatible ones off the shelves, unless I missed something, and now they're bringing a BC model back. I'm not trolling, I am a very happy PS3 owner, but that doesn't change the fact that Sony's various decisions this generation have been a mite screwy.

Sony *Overestimated* 80 GB PS3 Demand

Fixed that for ya.

Wow. they UNDERESTIMATED demand...

Who would have thought, just a few years ago, that Sony would have such low expectations in their products...

you have 2 products, they are essentially the same, one lacking some features but being considerably cheaper, which one do you expect to sell more?

all i can say again about this is pancake nipples !

well of course people still want the 80GB, it's the only one still in production that can play PS2 games. i have a 60GB so im good but i know there are plenty of people that would love to use that massive PS2 back catalog if they bought a PS3 (but at the same time, who doesnt have a PS2?).

i dont know what they were thinking trying to only sell the 40GB, especially when they have previously had something better. you cant gimp functions and then force people to buy that, its not fair to the late adopters.

I think this has been the only time that being an early adopter has paid off....both 20GB and 60GB owners haven't had anything to worry about...

I'm waiting for FF to drop before picking up a PS3, as it's currently the only PS exclusive that interests me, and is certainly a system seller from my point of view.

I just hope when FF does drop, they do a special edition of the PS3, along with the larger HDD & BC. That would be complete sweetness in my book.

I don't have a ps2.

They were thinking to when the PS2 showed up. PS1 software sales rather quickly dried up when the PS2 came to town. It was a cost cutting measure by removing a feature the VAST VAST VAST VAST (just to get it in your head that because you use it that everyone else does too) majority don't ever use.

This is still early in the life cycle. If we remember, Sony was expecting to sell these same 11 million units by this time last year and were expecting all the people who gave a shit about backwards compatibility to be on board by this point.

i agree with you LaughingTarget on the notion of people actually using BC. i have used it maybe 3 times total since i bought my PS3 last summer, but it does still seem to be a thing that people want to have in there for some reason. your right that most wont use it but with the way people complain about them taking it out, you can tell that it is (for whatever reason) something that people still like having in their consoles. whenever i get a console that does BC i always get all excited to play my old games on it but then i play the new games, see how good they look and never play the old ones anymore. i dont understand it but it still happens.

Hypothetical situation: Provided that money is not an issue, if you guys and gals could choose any SKU of the PS3 to purchase, past or present, which would it be?

So this includes the original 20GB and 60GB models with full BC up to the 80GB with partial BC. Just curious.

60GB. Duh.

I'd choose the 60GB sku... iirc this was one of the launch consoles, and I still play ps1 games for cripes sake

Well, one isn't enough for an accurate data sampling, but that's pretty much what I figured.

It seemed so utterly ridiculous when it first came out, but in retrospect and comparison with the current models in circulation, the 60GB model really was/is the bees knees. Granted, the price drop made the PS3 far more accessible, but it's interesting to see the hierarchy given the appropriate perspective.

60GB... Without hesistation in answer, too. I bought a used one 'cause all the 60GBs were quickly sold out in my area. Hell, I've seen a couple 20GBs still lingering here and there in retail stores amongst the regular 40/80GB ones now.

In fact, the only reason I'm buying the 80GB(MGS4 BUNDLE, of course)is because it's a gift for my younger sibling... though I'm *keeping* the MGS4 game & extras. He can buy MGS4 himself!

60GB. I went out and bought a 60GB right after the big BC announcement was made. I had been hoarding gift cards waiting for a Wii to get in stock but just dropped them on a PS3 instead.

I have to admit though, so far it's only been used for BD, PS2 and recently Uncharted. Oh, and had a blast with Pixeljunk Monsters for a week.

If only there were some BC lovin for us euros :(

Sony America VP of marketing, Scott Steinberg you wouldn't be so surprised if you read what the community of gamers are asking for on blogs and forums.
Also bring back full BC like the 60GB had with the new DualShock 3 for $400.

Yeah, while we are at it lets just throw in 7 DS3's, and 10 free games...and 320GB of HDD space, and lets make it 50 bucks, because 400 just is a little too pricey for the "mass market". Then everyone will pick it up!

I just can't believe your extraordinary logic! WOW.

What's wrong with my logic?
They can sell the 80GB with Dual Shock 3 partial BC and Metal Gear Solid 4 for $500 this June. I don't even care if it has a 40GB or 60GB drive. What's the extra price for the Emotion chip and the Rumble being back $30?

So of all of the "on and off" features, you want a PS3 with:

Card Reader
Wi-Fi
Full BC (which means EE back on)
and a 60GB HDD

And you probably also want them to keep HDMI...

Because that's pretty much what the community (and by that you probably mean non-PS3 owners, since most owners really don't complain about the price, the amount of features really justifies it) wants, that and to keep the price at $400 or less....

I know that everyone wants everything for cheap, but come on, there is a thing line between being a good buyer and being cheap

Man Gamble, you're on a mega-dick roll today!

@ Tuna

Haha, my bad...I need to chill.

@ Karen

My point was just that they would love to do what your saying, but cost is a factor. Its not all about market share. In fact it is never about market share, it is about revenue, and you need market share to get that...but not at the cost of revenue.

They removed BC because they needed the unit cheaper.

40GB
Wi-Fi
EE Chip
HDMI
Duel Shock 3
$400 this June. With 19 Months after the system launched with the hardware prices to build it coming down I believe it can be done. They sold the 60GB for $450 last May.

The 60GB sold for 599 int eh first year, and then was cut down to 499. Never reached 450 unless a retailer wanted to clear stock.

You just don't understand what they were trying to do. When the PS3 first launched it cost them 800 dollars per system, and the cost of the system has gone down to about 400-500, but that is because they found ways to make it cheaper. Like switching to 40 and 80 HDD sizes because they are cheaper to produce in bulk, or getting rid of the EE and Wi-Fi and stuff.

If they tried to sell what you want, they would be at a loss again.

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Sony underestimated 80GB PS3 demand

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