PS3 Not until 2007?!

According to a ceratin "Wedbrush Morgan Securities" the PS3 may not be realeased until 2007, all due to how well the Xbox 360 is doing. They are basically saying that Sony want to wait a year to destroy the Xbox 360 by lowering PS2 prices (and so prolonging the life of the PS2, and making more profit on it) before releasing the PS3 in late 2006 or early 2007 and dash Microsofts hopes of becoming king of the computer console market.

Nice tactic, but do we wanna wait?!

According to Wedbush Morgan Securities, the PS3 may be delayed until 2007 if the Xbox 360 is not doing well. Although it has not been said where the PS3 will release first, it is suppose to release in Spring 2006. Wedbush Morgan Securities is saying that if the right circumstances are met, the release date of the PS3 could be pushed back until after the December 2006. In a memo sent to investers, senior Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter set up a possible scenario for the delayed PS3 release. The current generation Xbox price drops to $99 after the Xbox 360 release and Sony would drop the price of the PS2 to $99. The 2 components in that pricing strategy is the price drop of the Playstation 2 would distract people from the Xbox 360 launch, Pachter stated: "We believe that the company will attempt to disrupt the Xbox 360 launch with a price cut, and as a result may succeed in diverting attention away from the higher-priced next-generation console." A PS2 price drop to $99 would still result in a profit for each console sold as the manufacturing cost of the PS2 is less then $99. According to Michael Pachter, new consoles can be noteworthy, due to the fact that at the beginning of the consoles lifecycle they are sold at a loss. Pachter also noted that the PS2 will cost less to make then to sell, it would be very good for Sony to extend the life of the PS2 because that means profit for every console sold. If Microsoft puts the Xbox price to $99 (which will be a loss to Microsoft according to Pachter), Sony would be in a clear win-win situation. A cornerstone of Pachter's theory was is Sony does not want to disapoint the the buyers and the retailers by not having many units in high-demand weeks of this coming December. Pachter said, "We believe that Sony suffered the ignominy of being unable to satisfy holiday [2004] demand in order to increase its gross profits over the short term." If the PS3 launches in the 4th quarter of 2006 and suffers the same situation, Sony would be embarrassed for the second consecutive year. With no PS3's in the channel, there is no chance of a shortage in stock. The most important part in Pachter's argument is if the Xbox 360 does well early Sony will have to be working extremely hard to get the PS3 out as soon as possible. However: "Should Microsoft fail to garner sufficient software support to gain an insurmountable lead, we think that there is a possibility that the PS3 launch will slip into early 2007." After the distribution of the memo not to long ago, Pachter emphasized that he "posted the thought as an option value for Sony." Continuing, he said, "I think the 360 will do quite well."

The article is taken, once again, from www.ps3portal.com