Well, at least no one seems to have actually DIED
11:19 AM, November 17, 2006
Shooting, muggings, near riots. The PS3 launch had it all.
Now, all the scalpers are unloading their systems on eBay. Check out some stats that eBay sent out this morning:
As of 9:23am this morning, 174 Playstation3 consoles have sold for an average selling price of $2,618.47; since its availability on eBay in pre-sale [10/17- today], 3533 PS3 have been sold in pre-sale to date for an average sold price of $1,788.88.
According to the eBay Marketplace Research, for PS3 on eBay:
At present there are 1579 live listings
Average price of a PS3 for the past week is $1,959.73
Yesterday, 334 sold $2,184.85- expecting today to be another busy day
A month ago [the week of 10/17], the unit was going on average for $959.60; now the average price [the week 11/11-17] is $1,955.29.
So who's to blame for all this random thuggery and extortion? Sony, but not for the reasons you may think.
Read on for my take.
The problem here is that Sony did not charge enough for the PS3.
Yup, you heard me.
At launch, demand far exceeded supply, leading to extreme scarcity.
As a result, the average price consumers were willing to pay was well beyond $499 or even $599. Look at those eBay numbers. So far, 174 systems have been sold at an average price of $2,618.
Now, Sony could have avoided any perception of a shortage by raising the launch price of the PS3 to the point where the number of buyers willing to pay that price exactly equaled the number of systems available. At that point, there's no shortage, because everyone who wants and can afford a PS3 is able to get one.
As a bonus, Sony would actually be turning a profit on the PS3.
Later on, as demand for the $2,000 PS3 receded, Sony could lower the price accordingly to keep supply in line with demand.
Instead, Sony chose to leave free money on the table, let scalpers pocket that money, and create a massive surge in demand that can't possibly be satisfied for several months.
Now, there's no question Sony would have taken a little bit of a PR hit for charging two grand for their game console. But so what? It wouldn't have been a permanent price. Just a premium price for determined early adopters. Besides, Sony has already said it expects to lose $1.7 billion in its game division for fiscal 2007. I'd rather take the PR hit.
