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Sony cuts price of PlayStation Portable by $30
By Dean Takahashi
Mercury News
Article Launched: 04/03/2007 10:11:13 AM PDT
Sony is announcing today that it is cutting the price of its PlayStation Portable gaming handheld from $199 to $169.
Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said that Sony has shipped more than 25 million PSPs to stores and that volume is allowing it to become more efficient in manufacturing. Consequently, he said, Sony can pass on its cost savings to consumers.
The PSP Core Pack will now be priced closer to the rival Nintendo DS, which at $129 had sold more than 35 million units as of the end of December. Tretton said that after two years on the market the PSP is achieving Sony's goal of expanding the handheld gaming market to older console gamers who didn't play Nintendo handhelds.
The average age of the 7.5 million PSP owners in North America is 24, and only 10 percent of those are DS owners, Tretton said.
There are more than 250 titles on the PSP now, with the top hits including Grand Theft Auto Liberty City Stories, Star Wars Battlefront 2, Need for Speed Most Wanted, SOCOM US Navy Seals, and Madden.
The PSP debuted in March 2005 at $249 in North America, about four months after the debut of the $149 Nintendo DS. The PSP has a 16:9 widescreen display and the ability to play movies, music, games and access the Internet.
Analysts had expected Sony to trim the price after the close of its March 31 fiscal year because it has the potential to hurt the Japanese company's already weak bottom line.
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