Sony to Discontinue 60GB Playstation 3

Fans of the Playstation 3 that wants to get the game console after the price drop should probably do so now. Only days after announcing a price drop on its 60 GB Playstation 3 console, an interview with the head of Sony Computer Entertainment International, Kaz Hirai, by a Norwegian game news outlet VGTV, revealed that Sony will be discontinuing the 60 GB Playstation 3.

At the recently concluded E3 Media and Business Summit, there was an initial confusion surrounding the price drop of the 60GB Playstation 3. Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced last Monday that it would be dropping the price of the 60 GB Playstation 3 then in an interview with gamespot, David Reeves, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe said that the price drop was merely a markdown of a model which has been discontinued. Hours later, a Sony Computer Entertainment America spokesperson said that what the press quoted from Reeves was not accurate.

The issue finally became clear in Hirai's interview with the Norwegian game site. In the interview, he was quoted as saying, "From a hardware perspective, the $499 price adjustment we did for the 60GB version for the American market, we're no longer in production for that product. Once that product is gone from the retailer shelves, then we're back to a $599 SKU only, so it's not like we have a two-price strategy in the US market. We found out very early on how consumers react to having just one SKU as opposed to two."

The Sony Playstation 3 was at first available in the US in two models, the 20 GB model and the 60 GB model. The 20 GB Playstation 3 was then discontinued last April 2007 because there was no demand for it.
In the interview, Hirai said that Sony has still no plans to adjust the price of the Playstation 3 in other territories.

In the follow-up interview of gamespot, Dave Karraker, Sony Computer Entertainment America Senior Director of corporate communications has then confirmed the discontinuance but said that the 60 GB Playstation 3 will be available in North America for $499 until supplies last. He said that the company still has enough inventory in North America to last for several months to come.

Critics had said that the promotion of the $499 price drop and then not announcing the discontinuance amounted to bait. Karraker responded by saying that this was not "bait and switch" but they are offering the Playstation 3 at a lower price for months to come to allow consumers the opportunity to acquire the model at an adjusted price.

SOURCE:

Kaz Hirai Interview, URL: (http://atvs.vg.no/player/?id=10235)
GameSpot Rumor Control. URL: (http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=25772777&tag=top_stories;story;4)