Analyst: Don't expect price cuts to help hardware sales

by Richard Mitchell on Aug 13th 2009 6:40PM

According to Cowan and Company analyst Doug Creutz, expected price cuts for all major consoles won't stimulate sales as much as previous cuts have in the past, reports GI.biz. The reason, according to Creutz, is increased "pressure on consumers" brought on by the current economic climate. That said, Creutz still believes that price cuts are imminent, specifically a $100 cut to the PS3, $50 from the Wii and a new $300 price for the Xbox 360.

Of course, given the rumors and evidence flying around the web these days, you don't really need an analyst to tell you that. Creutz expects price drop announcements as early as the Gamescom convention next week. (Joystiq's Magic 8-Ball strongly agrees.)

On the software side of things, Creutz expects year-over-year sales to continue to decline, starting with the incoming July NPD numbers. Another drop will occur in August, but things may turn around in September because nothing gets the cash flowing like Guitar Hero and Halo.

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Tags: analyst, business, doug-creutz, price-cut

Reader Comments (53)

To add to everyones dissagreement. Its not gonna help console sales. I've asked some people if they're going to buy a PlayStation 3 now that the price has dropped, they said no. They said it definately helps, but they still don't have the money.

As far as Xbox 360? Their price drop isn't going to change a thing. Those who have an Xbox 360 by now will have one. They're not waiting for a price drop. $200 for the console and purchasing Rock Band is it. Those who buy an Xbox will be those retarded enough to sink more money into an upgraded model or those who still haven't gotten a clue that the 360 is a flawed and broken system still. With the PlayStation 3, you can purchase an upgraded HDD from whoever you want. You're not sworn to Sony's brand. So you can pick up a seagate, Samsung, Toshiba. Whatever. Microsoft, you have to buy Microsofts HDD. There's no price competitiveness. Not to mention, a crash for the PlayStation 3 is extremely low and extremely rare. But the world is somehow still blinded into thinking that the Xbox is still the greatest. How many Xbox 360's have you had to replace? Well, its because everyone else has an Xbox and all my buddies do. Congratulations man, you don't know how to decide for yourself. Those who are popular amongst people are the trendsetters, not the trend followers. The Sheppard is always smarter than his sheep.

"Those who have an Xbox 360 by now will have one. "

This is patently, obviously untrue.

Only one quarter of American homes have a next-gen (Wii, PS3, 360 console). Obviously, a large segment of the market will never have a console -- the huge number of retirees for example -- but saying that everyone who wants a 360 has got one, is ridiculous.

Look at PS2 sales.

Price is vital. I'd buy more 360s as media hub for the other room if the price were cheap enough, and I'm far from alone.

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