The official reason given for this decision was that the number of 60GB PS3 units sold far outnumbered the 20GB PS3s in the region. "Initial retail demand in North America was upwards of 90 per cent in favor of the 60GB SKU, so we manufactured and shipped-in accordingly. Due to the overwhelming demand for the 60GB model from both retailers and consumers, we have ceased offering the 20GB model here in North America", said Dave Karraker, a senior Director, Corporate Communications at SCEA. Karraker was speaking in an interview with GameIndustry.biz.

While Karraker added that the remaining 20GB Hard Disk Drive pieces will continue to be sold at the current price of $499, the decision has led many analysts to speculate on whether there were no other reasons involved in stopping the production.

Analysts believe that Sony is consciously steering PS3 gamers towards the higher end version since it can take a lesser amount of loss for that particular version ($241.35 compared to $306.85 for the 20GB version). Sony is also looking at other avenues to cut back on its losses.

One of the decisions that has been taken is the offer of replacing the software emulation Emotion Engine with PAL PS3s. The software emulation is used provide hardware backwards compatibility for NTSC PS3s to play PS2 games even though the quality is inferior. Sony expects to save as much as $27 for each unit following this move.

Expected to continue ruling the home console market, PS3 has become something of a loss-making venture for Sony. The PS3 has been already eclipsed by Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360 in terms of sales, with the total around half of the number of units sold by Nintendo.

According to Karraker, the decision to stop the production is "based purely on consumer and retailer demand" since the 60GB version is outselling the 20GB version by a margin of 10 to 1. Sony is currently selling the higher end version in Europe and following this decision it seems that the 20GB version will not see the daylight in the region.
 

Comments (2)

Write Comment

Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code.
Name:
E-mail
BBCode:
Comment:
Code:*
	I wish to be contacted by email regarding additional comments

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.4