News Blog

Sony Corp. this week told a forum in Singapore that it has no plans to cut the price of the Playstation 3 hardware.

Instead it will focus on profitability in the game sector.

“This year, our strategy is not to sell more quantity for PS3 but to concentrate on profitability,” said chief financial officer Nobuyuki Oneda on Fri.

“Our plan is not to reduce the price.”

Sony in May posted a quarterly profit and narrowed losses in its game division. It had sold 9.24 million PS3 units in the fiscal year ended Mar. 31.

The PS3 has held lower-than-expected sales due to high price and limited game library.

However, the hardware has outsold Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 in several months of 2008 in the U.S., based on data from NPD Group Inc.

Microsoft will lower the price of the $349 Xbox 360 Pro SKU by $50 according to advanced retail circulars.

Target Corp. stores will offer a free $25 gift card with the purchase of the $299 Xbox 360 Pro to further drive sales.