Sony clarifies Americans aren't 'cheap,' but U.S. labor is

Near the PS3 launch in Europe, Sony's UK Managing Director Ray Maguire was interviewed by GI.biz, and while discussing the cost of the PS3 in the UK said, "If you take what's considered to be the most expensive and the least expensive -- consider the US with its massive land and cheap people. Then you look at the UK -- a little island where rent and rates are at an absolute premium, and the cost of people is a lot more."

Coincidentally, in the same interview Maguire also said, "Nowadays, with how the media works, not only does information fly around at the speed of light, so does mis-information. With blogs on the increase, people's thought processes are transferred from one place to another and picked up by people who might be lazy when it comes to finding out whether something is true or not."

Well, to prove him wrong, 1UP went and followed up with Sony America today. They explained what Maguire was trying to say is that the cost of living and labor are different in the two countries. The minimum wage in the UK is roughly $10/hr USD against the US's $5.15/hr. 1UP concludes, "Wouldn't that make us, essentially, 'cheaper?'" Well, no. By that thought process the U.S. is essentially poorer. Sony is doing the U.S. a favor by making the PS3 cheaper for the well-populated, but poor, country.