Are console price cuts a thing of the past?

[SageShinigami]

Excuse me if this discussion's been had before, but it's something I realized recently. The PlayStation 4 never really dropped below $299.99. The Switch is four years in and it's still at $299.99 unless you get the Switch Lite. (Someone's going to make the terrible argument "so it's not cheaper except when it's cheaper". That's a weird ERA thing. Lemme stop you there. The Switch Lite is cheaper because it has reduced functionality. Prior system redesigns were cheaper while maintaining their functionalities.)

This is a long way away from where we used to be. The PS1 and PS2 both hit $99 at a certain point. The PS3 was never quite able to get to that point because of the hard drive, and I think the lowest it got was around $199 for a version without an actual hard drive in it. (Price might be lower than I'm remembering.)

Now here we are looking at the next generation of consoles and the last generation isn't that big of a step down. Now some of this is doubtless the prices being jacked up because people are gaming more since they can't go anywhere or do anything. But then some of it has to be a mix of "It's still selling, why drop the price" and the components just not getting all that much cheaper over time?

Most of the time, they find a way to sell the console at launch MSRP or higher by bundling in games or additional controllers.

It does make me wonder what poor people are supposed to do--have we gotten to a point where the answer is "If you're poor you shouldn't be gaming?" That feels gross. And it also feels like there's no point in waiting for buying a game console anymore if it's not going to get any cheaper with newer models.

 

[Nexus2049]

I personally think so. I think the Series S is the 'price cut' for the Series X.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

I thought it was mostly due to the Covid lockdowns

 

[TheInfinityGauntlet]

It does make me wonder what poor people are supposed to do

Click to shrink...

buy secondhand?

 

[TripleBee]

Phil Spenser talked about how parts prices aren't dropping like they used to - and that's why the Series S exists - as the NextGen consoles will be very slow to price drop.

 

[vixolus]

The price cuts happen at Black Friday or when a new version (like the Pro / X) come into play. The PS4 could be had as a bundle at the holidays for $199. Yeah that's not a permanent MSRP drop, but it's effectively one and I feel like by now people should know when to expect price drops around the holidays if they're in the market for one.

 

[Deleted member 198]

COVID fucked up supply for everything. The older Xbox systems are discontinued, the Pro is discontinued, I'd sooner expect an ultra slim PS4 and like Android TV box sized X1 than price cuts.

 

[Stopdoor]

The price cuts happen at Black Friday or when a new version (like the Pro / X) come into play. The PS4 could be had as a bundle at the holidays for $199. Yeah that's not a permanent MSRP drop, but it's effectively one and I feel like by now people should know when to expect price drops around the holidays if they're in the market for one.

Click to shrink...

Did this happen this Black Friday? It didn't seem like it did, at least not on a widespread level. PS4 wasn't advertised at all because it wasn't even really easily available due to the pandemic.

 

[Creepy Woody]

The PS4 sailed on full price until it was discontinued and I expect the Switch will too so yeah, I doubt it.

Maybe if something comes out at a price too high to attract people ala 3DS launch.

 

[martincrimson87]

Yeah, once supply of next gen consoles stabilizes we should see a price drop. Otherwise they should discontinue the old ones. Why spending 300 USD on a ps4 when you can pay just 100 USD more and get a machine that can play ps4 games and is like 8 times more powerful. Even at 200 USD a ps4 is a hard sell these days.

Even worse for xbox as you have the series s at 300 USD.

In theory used last gen consoles should flood the market, since early adopters can sell them to get their new machines.

 

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

I don't think so entirely but they may only get 1-2 going forward. $200 was the new $130 for 360/PS3, and $300 is the new $200 for last gen.

I think Ps5 slim will be $300 or 350 holiday 2023. Wouldn't be surprised if they drop digital model since they're shipping so few, and just wanted to hit the $399 marketing term. Yeah, they get more money off digital sales but the market hasn't shown that consumers will buy digital only consoles yet since the majority of those 70% digital ratios are on systems with disc drives.

whether consumers are willing to give up retail sales or not I doubt it. Especially with $70 games. Used games won't be easily let go

 

[Jawmuncher]

These days, it seems price drops are treated more like limited-time event things 9Black Friday). Even before Covid, all the systems were staying away from any official price-drops and typically offering stuff during Promo's only.

Covid just made everything worst in this regard. As making next-gen and current-gen is hard with how supply currently is across the board. Buying second hand basically became the "cheap alternative" and even that's debatable now depending on what you're looking for.

I think this is why you're seeing a lot more companies wanting to push into PC and Streaming. As it allows another market to be sold to that doesn't want to pay for these consoles.

 

[smurfx]

was there more chip fab plants in the past? because with big weights like apple taking up most of the production at tsmc i don't think sony is gonna see big price drops like in the past.

 

[waddledee123]

I wouldn't say 'poor' people shouldn't be gaming as there are means to getting a console for cheaper such as craigslist or preowned from a local game shop or even just buying it off of someone you know which I think is the best rout to take.

 

[Menx64]

I was waiting for the PS5 to come out and grab a PSPro for cheap... Instead I can't find one anywhere and even used are expensive as hell. But we are in the middle of a pandemic and it seems consoles are commodities now.

 

[Deleted member 11976]

I think bundling with software and / or services is the new price drop, at least if we're talking about manufacturers' strategy. Temporary discussions at retailers usually seems like a seasonal / situational thing.

I can imagine Sony bundling Spider-Man with the PS5 in H2 2021 for the base console MSRP, for example. We might see $30-50 off base unit MSRP next Black Friday, if supply issues have stabilized.

 

[neptunez]

Price cuts like the PS2's first price cut? and the PS3? Probably never again

 

[EvilBoris]

It's been the case for a while , once HDDs became a thing you just saw new models with larger drives be released, keeping the price higher.

Also we've seen an increase in the whole flash sale thing being an influence on pricing - they price high so they can offer seemingly big discounts

 

[Slayven]

We a long way from the 99 dollar Gamecube

 

[Goldenh]

No, Switch is just peaking without a price cut, so there is no need to cut the price if they are selling all their stock even tho they produce 30 millions a year. I'm sure a price cut will come at some point. PS4 got one and Xbox one got multiple.

 

[s y]

When the PS5 Pro drops, I wonder if they'll phase out the physical vanilla PS5 and increase stock of the DE or cut the price.

 

[TheYanger]

Where was the article or interview someone had from the xbox engineering team indicating that's what Series S is supposed to be? It was something about how the processes aren't improving enough to meaningfully cut costs and so they're finding a budget solution from the jump instead.

In any case, it was floating around here back around launch for the new systems.

 

[Deleted member 17210]

Compared to aggressive price cuts of past gens, it just feels like first-party collusion at this point.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Yup. Just further reason why this gen sucks.

 

[AmFreak]

Depends solely on the market, the One price tanked big and fast.
Ofc there is no need if you are Sony with the PS4 or Nintendo with the Switch and sell gangbusters anyway due to no real competition.

 

[SpaceCrystal]

IMO, COVID is part of the reason why, especially as consoles are on shortage.

Another reason why is because consoles are still selling so well, so there's no reason to lower the prices yet, especially for the Switch.

But I can see Nintendo getting rid of the Switch Lite & replace that with the original Switch model at $199 should the "Switch Pro" comes to fruition in which it will likely sell between $299 & $349.

Same with Sony with the PS5 in the future when they'll eventually come out with a slim model, but they'll most likely replace the 1 TB SSD with a 2 TB SSD & still sell it for $499, since SSD's are still very expensive on their own.

 

[TheYanger]

Depends solely on the market, the One price tanked big and fast.
Ofc there is no need if you are Sony with the PS4 or Nintendo with the Switch and sell gangbusters anyway due to no real competition.

Click to shrink...

It really didn't though. The one S is still like 300 retail iirc, which is basically only 100 bucks down (The first 100 drop was cause of ditching kinect).

consoles used to almost always end their lifespan around 100 bucks, but even 150 seems like a far off pipe dream now.

 

[Dolce]

PS4 launched at 399 didn't it? While it wasn't a permanent drop, I got mine at 200 black friday. So if you were willing to wait at least that's about 50% of the launch price.

 

[the-pi-guy]

I think it's a combination of being harder to drop the price and easier to justify a higher price.

The PS3 saw very aggressive price cuts. Blu-ray matured. The cell and RSX were being manufactured on better processes, they saw some major die shrinks. They cut out extra hardware like PS2 capability.

The PS4 didn't and PS5 doesn't have a lot of that. Blu-ray was already cheap. The dies are difficult to shrink much.

We will still see price cuts, but it's much more difficult to make it happen.

On the other end of it, it is easier to keep the price higher. With HDDs/SSDs, it's easy to justify doubling the capacity and keeping the price the same. The consumer feels they are getting more, and yet the company is spending barely anything more.

 

[Lego]

I think stuff is just really expensive to make, with how complicated tech is these days.

 

[AmFreak]

It really didn't though. The one S is still like 300 retail iirc, which is basically only 100 bucks down (The first 100 drop was cause of ditching kinect).

consoles used to almost always end their lifespan around 100 bucks, but even 150 seems like a far off pipe dream now.

Click to shrink...

The One launched for $500, at it's first real (aka non-launch) Black Friday you could get different bundles for $330 + whatever the shop added, meaning you could get an Xbox One for around half the price a single year after it launched ($330 + $50 gift cart + 2 AC games).
If that isn't big and fast what is it?
And in mainland europe it got thrown at you for years before Covid and yes sometimes even at ~150€.

 

[TheYanger]

The One launched for $500, at it's first real (aka non-launch) Black Friday you could get different bundles for $330 + whatever the shop added, meaning you could get an Xbox One for around half the price a single year after it launched ($330 + $50 gift cart + 2 AC games).
If that isn't big and fast what is it?
And in mainland europe it got thrown at you for years before Covid and yes sometimes even at ~150€.

Click to shrink...

100 of that discount you're touting was the kinect being gone, again. That's an EASY cost savings for production without actually improving processes.
So in other words, it was on sale once for like 50 bucks off. It wasn't 'half' price.

Feel free to google Xbox One S's right now, aside from the fact that they're almost all used/refurbished, the pricing is not some extreme drop.

Again, as I said, this was explained around launch by someone at xbox, I wish I had the link but frankly I don't, but the price savings from process improvements are becoming significantly worse. It's the entire reason for the one S existing.

 

[Speevy]

Gamecube dropped to $149.99 and $99.99 because no one was buying them.

The PS2 started at $299.99 and dropped to $199.99 because they were able to produce them more cheaply while sales were growing exponentially. They really wanted to put Xbox and GCN out of contention and they did.

These days the machines are simply too expensive to produce.

 

[mjc]

Looking at last gen, yeah I'd say so.

 

[Look over there]

As long as you can move the units, there's no reason on their end to lower the price. Pandemic induced increased demand exacerbates that, yes.

was there more chip fab plants in the past? because with big weights like apple taking up most of the production at tsmc i don't think sony is gonna see big price drops like in the past.

Click to shrink...

For more recent nodes, yes. At this stage, the only three companies still trying to push forward (because this stuff is difficult/expensive*) are TSMC, Samsung, and Intel. Intel of course has been running into issues for years, and predominantly manufactures for itself as far as I'm aware. Samsung's currently behind TSMC, but they do intend to attempt the next big transistor development one node before TSMC will, so who knows if they'll take back the lead.
But anyway, back to the main point you're referring to; the current supply constraint is a real thing hinding the new generation. And then I guess there's the domino effect of people who can't find new gen then turn around to buy up previous gen? Similar to what's happening with PC hardware.

*and yes, the newer the node, the higher the starting price tag on those wafers, gotta recoup that R&D somehow! :/

 

[Ultima_5]

They'll drop a bit but you'll never see a $99 console ever again

 

[AmFreak]

100 of that discount you're touting was the kinect being gone, again. That's an EASY cost savings for production without actually improving processes.
So in other words, it was on sale once for like 50 bucks off. It wasn't 'half' price.

Click to shrink...

- Why is Kinect worth $100 (when it already at launch only cost them $70 based on estimates)?
- Why is it "like 50 bucks" when it would still be $70 if we counted Kinect at $100?
- Why aren't the 2 AC games counted (especially when you count Kinect)?
- Why isn't the $50 target gift card counted?
- Why do you ignore Europe?

 

[Captain of Outer Space]

They usually get replaced with a cheaper model later or it's just a second model.

 

[Faddy]

Phil Spenser talked about how parts prices aren't dropping like they used to - and that's why the Series S exists - as the NextGen consoles will be very slow to price drop.

Click to shrink...

This is probably the real reason. All the parts are now from mature industries so there isn't as much of a difference as we move through a generation.

Some of the big price drops in the ps2/gamecube were from the disc drives becoming cheaper due to DVD players becoming a mature industry. Or better yields on processors.

 

[Watevaman]

This is by no means any indicator, since I don't follow any price trends, but I bought my PS4 for $199 back in 2016 (or 17, I still have the receipt), so I know that it definitely dropped below $299. As I said, I can't speak for anything else, including new consoles.

 

[InstantN00dles]

Seems like waiting for "slim" re-releases is likely when any price cuts were to happen. Otherwise probably not

 

[Faddy]

was there more chip fab plants in the past? because with big weights like apple taking up most of the production at tsmc i don't think sony is gonna see big price drops like in the past.

Click to shrink...

There is more capacity than in the past but demand is also way up. Smartphones, smart TVs and all sorts of other devices need chips.

It is actually an interesting thing about Intel stock, that even though they are blowing in on performance it doesn't effect their market price because everyone knows that chip demand will outstrip supply and there is a very good premium placed on their products.

 

[entremet]

apple taught these companies well.

 

[kirby_fox]

Price cuts were to increase demand just like new colors, form factors and upgrades are. All of those things and the general market demand increasing means there's less reason to cut price.

 

[Goldenroad]

For the most part, yes. There will always be sales and bundles, and eventually $50-100 price drops, but they know they are better off improving the tech and releasing updated models than they are cutting prices.

 

[Speevy]

You will sell the console for them at $199 once the PS6 and Xbox Series Q release.

 

[Welfare]

PS4 went from $399 to $349 to $299, then the 1TB model replaced the 500GB at $299. It would then go on sale for $249 and $199 multiple times after that in 2017 and on.

Xbox One went from $499 to $449 (Temp) to $399 to $349 back to $399 then back again(!), then went $299, then $279, then the 1TB replaced the 500GB at $299, and then they introduced the SAD to hit $249. The regular XB1 would go on sale for $249 and $199 multiple times 2017 on and the SAD was even $149 in 2019.

There were multiple opportunities to get those consoles for super cheap, and that doesn't even factor in the bundled games as well.

Now, probably due to tech advancements and companies looking to squeeze as much profit as possible, price cuts either come in with the season or a new model. Like, I don't expect the Switch to get price cut until the Pro, and I think the Pro just replaced the Switch at $299. I'm predicting Xbox Series X doesn't get a price cut until either a digital only SKU is introduced or a 2023 replacement arrives. PS5 already had a price cut in the DE.

Gone are the days where 15 billion price cuts happened in a 5 year span like what happened in the 6th and 7th gen.

 

[TheYanger]

You will sell the console for them at $199 once the PS6 and Xbox Series Q release.

Click to shrink...

Will they? They don't sell one s or ps4 for that little. Maybe some blowout Christmas sales next year.

 

[Speevy]

Will they? They don't sell one s or ps4 for that little. Maybe some blowout Christmas sales next year.

Click to shrink...

No, you will. As in, we. Like in the BST thread.

 

[regenhuber]

My best guess is that F2P games also play a role in this.
Bet there is quite a few people who buy a PS4 Tonbildschau play Warzone, Apex or Fortnite. Maybe a used physical game here and there too. Watching Netflix.

Lots of scenarios where Sony isn't making much bank down the road these days. So why eat an unnecessary loss on hardware ?

I