Days After Price Cut, Sony Phasing Out 60GB PS3

Just before the start of E3, Sony announced to American consumers that the 60GB model of their PS3 would drop in price from $599 to $499. The move was termed a “price cut”, but the system launched in November at the price of $499 for a 20GB model that has since been phased out. Now we get word that the 60GB model, that was just dropped to $499, is also being phased out.

“Let’s understand what the Americans have done,” SCEE president David Reeves told GameSpot UK. “They’re going to introduce an 80GB model at $599 with MotorStorm on August 1, and they’ve got stock in trade of the old model. They’re just selling it off, they’re not dropping the price. The price from August 1 is going to be $599 because all the 60GB models will have gone. They’ve got to find a way to get rid of the old stock, and that’s what they’re doing.”

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SCE President Kaz Hirai confirmed the temporary status of the $499 model. “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,” he said in an interview. “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 bottom line is this: the PS3 will be a $599 console once the 60GB model runs out at retail. The system launched at $499 for a 20GB model and $599 for a 60GB model. Sony phased out the 20GB model months ago and now they are in the process of phasing out the 60GB model, reduced in price to $499. When the 60GB model is gone, the only option for consumers will be the $599 80GB model that was just announced earlier in the week.

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