Ce-Oh no he didn't, part XXXII - Sony UK boss calls US citizens "cheap people"

In an interview with GamesIndustry, Sony UK's managing director Ray Maguire had something of a minor faux pas when asked why the PS3 is pricier in the UK (£425 or $833 US) than it is in the rest of Europe (€599 or $794 US), to which he replied:

"... you have a look at the economic and financial situation in each and every territory. That's where the differences start to vary massively. ... 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."

We think we're gonna give Ray a pass here. If you read his whole interview, in context he seems to be talking about costs -- like tarriffs, fees, VAT, and the like -- associated with getting a console into a person's hands. But either way, people are people, and it's no surprise that when you start thinking of human beings as numbers or business units you start saying stupid things like the US is filled with "cheap people".

[Colin @ Mar 26th 2007 11:02AM]

No No No...

The US is filled with FAT people.

[Colin @ Mar 26th 2007 11:03AM]

No No No...

The US is filled with FAT people.

[Andrew @ Mar 26th 2007 11:05AM]

Not to mention the fact that every American has to drive a gas-guzzling SUV and own 10 guns by the age of 18.

Let's keep those stereotypes rolling.

[MacGuru @ Mar 26th 2007 2:09PM]

Some more stereotypes: everybody in England eats bad food...
Oh, wait, that's true!

[yumyum @ Mar 26th 2007 9:29PM]

c'mon MacGuru.
Fish 'n Chips are wonderful.....err...

[TUPPU @ Mar 26th 2007 11:06AM]

Dont take it personally, because it is true.

Who is the larget retailer here? WalMart.

Why does Apple outsource iPod and laptop production to Asia? Cheap labour and lax industry laws.

Why does your help support person have an Indian accent? Because they're most likely in Bangalore.

etc, etc...

[August @ Mar 26th 2007 1:46PM]

This should be fun.

WMT is the second-largest firm in the world. If you think that all of its business comes from inside the US, you would be wrong. In fact, more than half of its business comes from outside the US. The same is true of McDonald's and Yum! Brands (go ahead and Google that because you know you don't know what it is). Guess what? The US isn't the only country that has retail discounters, either. Ever hear of Carrefour?

Six of ten of the world's largest firms are American. Sorry about our masterful grasp on business. And what about outsourcing? It can add value. I'm sorry you call that being "cheap".

Let's hear other "etc, etc...". This should be fun and you might actually learn something.

[mike @ Mar 26th 2007 11:41AM]

he seems to imply that japan has the cheapest people of em all

he'll have a very hard time proving it.

[bgdc @ Mar 26th 2007 11:44AM]

I agree: americans are cheap. We whine that gas is expensive when it's half to a quarter the cost of fuel throughout the rest of the world. We whine that video games are expensive yet in 1981 my Intellivision cost me $200; average rent in 1981 was $315. http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1981.html

How the blazes is $600 expensive when it's only three times more than a 26 year old system? That's almost exactly in line with other increases. $50 for a game is expensive? What? Since when? We were paying $40 for games in the 90s, so how is it we expect prices to go down when the cost of doing everything goes up?

[Ray-- @ Mar 26th 2007 2:24PM]

"my Intellivision cost me $200"

you're seriously going to cite intelliVision as an example of video game console success?? heck look at sega jaguar (or whatever it was called) it was expensive too!

[erin @ Mar 26th 2007 3:05PM]

@bgdc

Americans whine when gas prices go up because we have to drive to get to work, school, groceries, etc (unless living in an urban area). Most of Europe has subways to get places or everything is in a walking distance.

Maybe Americans need to be cheap because of how much health care costs the average American (whereas people in the UK have a government controlled health care), or just because of the cost of living. $600 plus $50 or so a game is a lot of money, especially on something that many people would consider a luxury or even *gasp* frivolous. Plus, what right does Sony have to increase the prices so much in other countries? I'm pretty sure that the manufacturing costs for the PS3 doesn't change for different shipping/selling locations; for sure not enough to justify a couple hundred dollars difference.

[Vince D @ Mar 30th 2007 3:05PM]

Price comparisons across long periods of time are meaningless due to government currency inflation. And Ludwig von Mises disproved Marx's labor theory of value, so we are left with the subjective value theorem and the old chestnut of "supply and demand". To wit, the price at which the (downward-sloping) demand curve and the (upward-sloping) supply curve meet is the price, it is determined by what the buyers in the market are willing to pay, and has no bearing on the cost of other goods such as rent. If the price is too high, items sit on shelves unsold, if it is too low, people get shot outside Target for their PS3. In both the short run and the long run the price is set by the retailer at the level (ideally) where the marginal buyer will buy the last unit available and there are no more buyers.

[Jason @ Mar 26th 2007 11:45AM]

Ford thought the same way about people.... Pinto, anyone?

[Matt @ Mar 26th 2007 11:49AM]

Of course American consumers are cheap. When shopping for electronics, they're 'spec-sheet' shoppers, caring only about listed features and bottom line price, rather than the intangibles like quality, ease of use, etc.

[NHAnimator @ Mar 26th 2007 11:56AM]

Let's just say that some Americans are cheap and some are not. Some shop at low-cost retailers like WalMart, some do not. Sheesh! Isn't that the way it is in EVERY country???

[Spec1alist @ Mar 26th 2007 11:59AM]

I think we are cheap, but we have many good reasons: Our government.

[Xultar @ Mar 26th 2007 11:59AM]

He's right.

[Jeff @ Mar 26th 2007 12:04PM]

Eh, string up that fish & chips eating bastard by his nuts anyway.

[Muu @ Mar 26th 2007 12:13PM]

The US is so cheap that, most of its citizens spend as much money as they make (or more). Walmart may provide cheap goods, but that just means that people end up buying MORE of the cheap crap because of its low price.

Obviously Mr.Harrison is trying to get at the hearts of Euro consumers, to try to make an argument that you can claim superiority to Americans by purchasing an item that Americans are simply too stingy to purchase. Unfortunately for Mr.Harrison, plenty of Americans will hear this through the biased and "lazy" media blogs (yes, that's you engadge) creating further animosity towards Sony.

[Jeff @ Mar 26th 2007 12:14PM]

we ARE cheap.

We allow exploitation of human beings in exchange for moderately low prices. we're disgusting. i see nothing wring with insinuating as much.

[macona @ Mar 26th 2007 12:17PM]

Sorry, Chinese people are cheaper than Japanese and some of the middle easter countries and Russians are cheaper yet.

They're so tight they squeak when they walk...

I see... cheap people...

[Kevin @ Mar 26th 2007 12:59PM]

Middle Easter?
lol, that's great...

[macona @ Mar 26th 2007 1:14PM]

OOPS! Well, it is getting to be that time of year! :D

[alex @ Mar 26th 2007 3:41PM]

wait, i don't get it. It's okay when Chinese or whatever nationality are claimed to be cheap but not Jews? Can someone explain that to me?

[DarrenJ @ Mar 26th 2007 12:19PM]

He can wine all he wants, but the bottom line is the US got a lower price and his bonus took a hit. Sucks to be you!

[tekdroid @ Mar 26th 2007 12:24PM]

"...consider the US with its massive land and cheap people."
---------
surely he meant cheap land and massive people?

:p
Just kidding, people.

[nd @ Mar 26th 2007 12:24PM]

I'm cheap.

[Rick (the original Rick) @ Mar 26th 2007 12:30PM]

hell ya, I'm cheap... proud to be... I'll double check change on quarter..

[John from Buffalo @ Mar 26th 2007 12:29PM]

All I can say is Walmart made me do it.

[Jon @ Apr 9th 2007 6:36PM]

Americans being cheap? I think not unlike the Brits, as Americans we have to pay for healthcare etc. I live I Florida so I also have to pay for Hurricane insurance as well as Flood Insurance which has gone through the roof these days! All I'm saying is we have more expenditures! And while the PS3 is a mighty attractive console its hard to shell out $600 when I could finish off my college loan payment.

[daschupa @ Mar 26th 2007 12:32PM]

I for one am shocked, SHOCKED I say, that US citizens aren't buying Sony's products in favor of "rent" or "food". I mean, where do they get off? Ray Maguire's not cheap, no sir. Ray Maguire buys ten PS3's every day, then buys ten people to play them. That's my "two centts", but for you, I'll charge $500 unless you want the spell checked version, that'll be $600.

[R @ Mar 26th 2007 12:36PM]

Did any of you actually READ the whole article? It's hard to judge something out-of-context.

What I do know of global economics is that every country is different . . . different costs of living means different salaries for similar jobs, thus different prices consumers are willing to pay for a PS3. That's why Sony did what it did. So what if the guy said it wrong.

[PhilK @ Mar 27th 2007 1:55AM]

We aren't cheap, just frugal.. and there is nothing wrong with that.

And yes, I did read the whole article. This jackass is negative towards a lot of things. I'm amazed his head can fit through a door.

[Grant @ Mar 26th 2007 12:38PM]

The most expensive system launch to this point was a $400 system, put out the previous year.

Compare that with Sony's offering -- a $600 system with no killer apps, no life-changing launch titles, and ZERO innovation. Oh, and it launched in exactly the same week as a second game system that -- while not as powerful -- was innovative, fresh, and FUN. Remember FUN, Sony? Mayhap you should remember that when putting together your new system.

When it comes to gaming rigs, Americans aren't necessarily cheap. We're just not sheep.

[david @ Mar 26th 2007 1:04PM]

LOL. We are cheap. Why would I pay $900 for something if I can find it for $500. Oh, and I only had one gun by the time I was 10. It was handed down generation to generation. It was a musket used to kill limeys in the Revolution.

[Matt B @ Mar 26th 2007 1:10PM]

I'm cheap too. I drive 15 minutes out of my way to save a dollar on cigarettes. Damn NY taxes.

[Chuckles McGee @ Mar 26th 2007 1:32PM]

Maybe he was talking about cost of US labor compared to European labor? Sony is losing money on each PS3...

[jim @ Mar 26th 2007 1:38PM]

Sorry not on topic but I couldn't help; comments on this post is very funny and nice. You're good.

[CaseyH @ Mar 26th 2007 1:39PM]

I guess by "cheap" he means that Americans are least likely to take in up the A$$.

[Jason @ Mar 26th 2007 1:45PM]

God save the queen... news flash for you british fairies: THE QUEEN IS OLDER THAN JESUS!!

[Colin @ Mar 26th 2007 1:52PM]

@CaseyH

San Francisco is no longer in the US?

@Grant

The most expensive system at launch I believe was actually the NeoGeo in relative terms. Even my Atari 2600 and Intellivision (still working BTW!) were more expensive than a PS3 or X360.

http://curmudgeongamer.com/imgdisplay.php3?shotfile=console-prices-relative.png

[dagamer34 @ Mar 26th 2007 2:03PM]

Umm... I don't really care who's cheap or not, alienating one group of people to get another group to buy your product is just bad PR, especially when you consider that the internet is mostly viewed by an AMERICAN audience (in terms of numbers anyway).

Yeah, it's pretty dumb.

[Harlo @ Mar 26th 2007 2:52PM]

It's not that we're cheap, it's just that we have the added cost of visiting a dentist once a year.

[Jason @ Mar 26th 2007 4:32PM]

well said my friend well said :)

[Jason @ Mar 26th 2007 3:20PM]

Well said my friend, well said :)

[Dacari @ Mar 26th 2007 3:00PM]

I live a small caribbean island where the US dollar is less value than our dollar..we don't have any direct taxes, but the cost of living is crazzy insane. I come into contact with tourist from all over the world because of my Job. Of all the complainers about price I have to say hands down without questions are YANKS..AND THAT IS A FACT!!!

[Jon Dunb @ Mar 26th 2007 5:10PM]

Cool story, Hansel.

[Grant @ Mar 26th 2007 3:41PM]

@ Colin:

You're 100% right -- I'd forgotten all about the Neo-Geo. But to be fair*, it was never intended to be a mass-market seller, and was only *IIRC) produced in limited quantities. Nobody was expecting the Neo-Geo to sell millions of units, like Sony obviously is aiming. So the rest of my comments still basically hold true.

I stand by the belief that if you build something worthwhile and charge people a reasonable amount for it, you will reap untold fortune. If you build something semi-worthwhile, charge people hundreds more than your direct competitors, then have your chief executives make countless snide remarks about the buying public when they balk... then you're Sony.


*Also may be pronounced "to halfassedly defend my lapse in remembering the Neo-Geo". My bad.

[John Stracke @ Mar 26th 2007 3:50PM]

Arrgh. Read the article: he didn't mean cheap as in stingy; he meant US labor costs are lower. And, yeah, they probably are, compared to Europe, because our social safety net, never very strong, has been gutted by 26 years of neocon domination.

In context, what he said makes sense. Each market (a country, the EU, a language group within a country) incurs some threshold cost up front; the US, being so huge, and so monolingual, is a huge market, so that threshold cost is amortized across more sales. Once you get into the country, getting into each customer's hands gets more labor-intensive; the US, with cheap labor, can do that more cheaply.

[Patrick @ Mar 27th 2007 5:20AM]

"`cause you know sometimes words have two me-e-eanings."


Also...

"Not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning GOOD!"
i.e. Not cheap meaning stingy but cheap meaning cost-effective! (good thing Run-DMC went for the former)