Analysts suggest Sony should cut Vita’s price
Sony’s new handheld PlayStation Vita has had a bit of a rocky start. Initially showing blooming signs of being a bomb of a purchase, Japanese sales have gone down considerably after its launch period settled. According to research firm Strategy Analytics, things won’t get any better unless Sony pulls a Nintendo; cuts the price for the portable gaming device and watch the dough fall like rain from heaven. Although, it seems to be pretty dry at both camps at the moment.
Analyst Jia Wu expressed, “Sony now is experiencing the same story in Japan [as Nintendo]. Sales of the Wi-Fi version of PlayStation Vita at $249 initially exploded, selling more than 300,000 units in the first week of release.”
Continued Wu, “but the new console is barely moving 20,000 units per week in its home market after all the hardcore fans made their purchases, mirroring the experience of the Nintendo 3DS.” He then suggested that, like Nintendo, Sony should slice the price of the PS Vita in order to gain some much needed momentum, something that will most likely not happen anytime soon.
“Despite the solid design and strong processing power, it is challenging to convince consumers to buy a dedicated game console above the $200 price range in today’s economic environment as Nintendo has learnt.”
Regardless, Wu predicts the PS Vita to give Sony some room to breathe, expecting it to sell 12.4 million units worldwide, bringing in around $2 billion in hardware and software sales this year, most of which could potentially be tied to the offerings for the platform on its PlayStation Store.
The handheld launched in the west earlier this week. No sales figures have come in yet.
