14 DAY TRIAL // The holiday season is one of the most exciting times of the year for electronics manufacturers because people are buying presents for their friends or want to indulge themselves in things they wanted to buy all year long. Such is the case with console and game manufacturers as a lot of people tend to buy consoles or major holiday titles around this time of the year.
Microsoft has already prepared the field for a very profitable Christmas season as it cut the price of its Xbox 360 consoles and with a very interesting lineup of exclusive games coming to the company's device, like Gears of War 2 or Fable II, it will definitely be a good time for the American company. On the other side of the console barricade, the Japanese company Sony stated on several occasions that it would not cut the price of its PlayStation 3 console because the lineup of exclusive titles coming to it would be enough to make customers buy it.
Now, through the voice of its managing director, Ray Maguire, Sony states that the reason for not making any price cuts is the fact that it needs to ensure a profit in order not to risk the economic fate of the company. Maguire also says that it wouldn't have been the best decision for the shareholders of the company to make any price cuts at this time, which may or may not pay off, especially considering the troubled economy in most countries.
"Well the pressure comes from the consumers obviously and so therefore there's always pressure on price, but you know we have a business to run, and we have to make sure we're doing the right thing for the shareholders as well. At the moment there's a marketplace for PS3 and I think for this particular Christmas, with the kind of quality of games we're seeing coming out this Christmas, I don't think the price of the console is going to be an issue at all."
He does make a valid argument but considering the heavy competition coming from Microsoft, Sony could have shaved a couple of dollars off the price of the PS3 just to make sure that it wouldn't appear too expensive for potential customers. Also, when you look at the big number of bundles that Microsoft has employed for the Xbox 360, the Japanese company really should have paid more attention to making its console more attractive in the eyes of the everyday customer.