The recent announcement that Sony will be lowering the price of the Playstation 4 system to $349.99 in the United States is a good move heading into the Holiday shopping season. Rivals Microsoft and Nintendo had similar reductions in the past and did see an upswing in sales, especially Microsoft who for that window in 2014 actually outsold Sony for a few weeks.
With over 25 million units sold around the world, Sony is clearly aiming at those who have not purchased a unit yet, specifically those who could not afford one, those who were waiting for more titles to become available, and yes, looking to convert some Microsoft faithful to give their unit a place in their homes.
For me the real key here is the bundles that will be offered with the systems, specifically the 1TB units and the bundles for Star Wars Battlefront and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. Sony is clearly looking to take advantage of their new marketing deals by offering current PS4 owners a chance to upgrade their storage capacity or to take advantage of custom bundles, some of which offer limited edition custom console designs. The best way to cash in on your success, is to convince current owners to buy another system as well as making the system attractive for those who have yet to make the leap.
With Limited Edition bundles for Disney Infinity, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, and Star Wars Battlefront, Sony is clearly giving collectors and gamers plenty of options, and for those who do not want, or cannot get the limited edition sets, traditional unit bundles are also being made available.
The 1TB unit is an intriguing option for games but let us also not forget bundles for NHL 16 and Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection. It seems that Sony is ls laying their cards on the table by eliminating price as a reason to look at rival systems and are putting a diverse and interesting collection of exclusives and third party title related bundles on the market to entice gamers to come over to Sony and for existing owners to expand to their collection. It will be interesting to see how the final sales numbers are for Sony based on these moves, but with the Playstation Expo upcoming, look for Sony to have a nice surge of momentum to close out 2015.
