When Sony said no PS3 price cut, it really meant...

Last Friday, in Tokyo, Sony President Ryoji Chubachi gave an interview to Reuters and, in response to a question, said, "At present, we have no plans" to cut the price of the PlayStation 3.

It was a fair statement, despite rumors swirling around that there were indeed going to be price cuts for the PS3, something many saw as a necessary move to staunch ebbing consumer confidence in the company and in its flagship video game console.

But then, on Monday, lo and behold, the company announced to the world that it was slashing $100 off its 60GB PS3, bringing down the price to $499.

So, which is it, Sony? No price cut? Or price cut. And what's going on with your communications of such business decisions?

Well, I asked Sony that very question Tuesday, and in response, I got the following statement from a spokesman: "The confusion regarding North America price cuts on the PS3 stems from comments made by a senior Sony Corporation executive last week in Tokyo, who simply said that there was no announcement to be made by Sony Corporation at that time. Pricing strategy is a very important, sensitive and competitive area, and not something we would discuss before we were ready to announce public details."

Hmm, I thought. I mean, fair enough, pricing information is sensitive, and no one can realistically expect a company like Sony to reveal such details before it is ready to do so.

But then, it seems to me, the company's public-facing executives should be a little more careful with their language. Saying "we have no plans" to cut prices seems pretty declarative and carries with it the connotation that it will be some time before such an event happens. And for a hungry press, eager to report developments in the PS3 saga, this was a tasty morsel.

To then announce, just three days later, that there is in fact a price cut makes the media look foolish--of course, no one really cares about that, nor should they--but it also makes Sony look bad, and cynically calculating.

So, if there's any lesson to be learned here, it seems to me that it's that big companies like Sony should get their messages straight, and should be cautious about their phrasing.

If they didn't want to get into the details of the price cut, but knew it was about to happen, then they should have said "no comment," and left it at that.

[bobby_brady]

No rootkits either?

Sony claims they're no longer implementing rootkits on their CD's. Yet, who should really trust that claim, if they can't tell us "no price cuts" with a straight face.

[markgillespie]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ..

Are people still talking about this rootkit nonsense? Is this the best Sony hate you can come up with???

The funniest part? Most people don't know what a rootkit actually is. It's NOT spyware, it's NOT a virus...

[NewsReader_]

Maybe just irresponsible journalism

How about letting Sony make an official press release about news like this instead of rushing out a headline?

[biggstuu]

c'mon now

you dont really think CNet has journalists do you? I mean look
at the hatchet job they attempted to do on Apple's iPhone,
headlines like "OMG, a cell phone carrier needs a customers SS#
to establish a line of service." Hmmm, i thought about it, gas n
electric - check, cable tv - check, water - check, home phone
service - check, all non installment services in which a customer
pays a monthly balance for services rendered and ALL require a
SS to establish an account. So yeah, next they're gonna blame
Coke and KFC for not putting their secret formulas on the
internet.

[dansmusings]

Sour Grapes!

Sony wanted to control the time of the announcement and it did. End of story. If the executive had simply answered with no comment cnet and the rest of the tech press would have been awash with rumors all weekend about the "impending PS3 price cut". Wile I'm not a Sony fan by any means I call sour grapes on a reporter who feels scooped.

[ctrue]

Still the same pricing as when the first came out

When the PS3's first came out they were $499 for the 20GB and $599 for the 60GB units. To me the current unit price point saving should be $399 and $499 to be a move to increase the number of sales by making the units more affordable. Otherwise the pricing would generally stay the same with HDD size increasing over time. In addition, for the addition $100 you should be able to get a 120GB or 160GB drive instead of only a 20GB increase in size.

[markgillespie]

Silly me..

I thought CNET were smart enough to understand buisness.

NEVER annouce a price cut in advance, your sales will stall straight away.

Every smart company does this, Sony, Microsoft and almost everyone else in the retail sector.

Shame on you CNET for not being smart enough to understand this.