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Apple puts PCs on free recycling party list, opens doors to iPads, iPhones
After being forced to pay off the door man to get into Apple's electronics recycling party for years now, PCs are finally getting in for free -- VIP style. Apple has revised its Reuse and Recycling Program and opened the gates to sheep from another shepherd's flock. The new rules are quite a departure from past protocol, which charged PC users 30 bones to recycle non-Apple computers and displays -- unless of course they agreed to purchase a Mac, in which case Apple would kindly do it for free. As part of the restructured program, ripe old iPads and iPhones are now eligible for Apple's exchange program as well, where you'll get a gift card if your device is actually worth anything. The company still recycles old iPods and mobile phones (regardless of manufacturer) for free, and offers 10% off a new iPod if you hand over an old one. With the revised plan it's safe to say the folks at Apple ditched the program's old theme song, "It's Not Easy Being Green," and are instead spinning a new track. Sparkly silver jacket not included.
Analyst: PS3 production costs dropped by 50% in a year
Business Week spoke with Nikko Citigroup analyst Kota Ezawa who believes changes in the PlayStation 3 have dropped production costs from $800 to about $400 per unit. Although Sony may have cut production costs dramatically it's not all sunshine and lollipops, Ezawa expects the Sony games division to lose about $1.4 billion this fiscal year, which is still better than the $2.1 billion loss last year and he doesn't expect prosperity in the division until '09.With production costs continuing to drop and signs that Sony may see Blu-ray succeed, consumers who held out on the PS3 may see benefits this year. If the cadre of American analysts is correct, there may be another PS3 price drop this year -- although this time it'll appear more a sign of growth than desperation.[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Sony gets head in the game with new PS3 ads
The word you're looking for is: FINALLY. Sony America finally gets their damn head in the game to sell some PS3s with a new ad campaign for this holiday. Sony Senior VP of Marketing and PSN Peter Dille wrote a long love letter on Sony's blog about the plan with this holiday's marketing. "Last year, we launched the PS3 with a campaign that become known as the 'White Room' and we received a strong reaction to those ads for being provocative and demonstrating the PS3's power," Dille wrote, obviously unaware of the extreme delusion in that statement. "With those technology messages now firmly embedded, we wanted to move beyond the 'power' message with a more high-energy, entertainment driven focus for the PS3. The games are here, the price point is now $399 and we wanted to make the news loud and clear."The 30 second spot (above) focuses on the exclusive games for the console. And in a shocker for Sony, they actually show the games in the ads. After the break is the 60 second spot focusing on the PS3's features. Now we wait to see if new consumers notice the lack of backwards compatibility in their new $399 PS3.
PS3 sees sales spike in Europe
MCV reports European tracking firm Chart Track informed them that the PS3 has seen a 178% increase in sales recently. They reached this conclusion calculating the "week-on-week PS3 hardware sales" following the introduction of the 60GB bundle and the new 40GB unit. It sounds like some fancy math is going on there, but we'll take any good news on the PS3 at this point.Chart Track says the introduction of the 40GB PS3 created the third largest hardware sales week for the system behind the console's first two weeks on sale. Software sales also increased as Resistance: Fall of Man jumped the charts from #22 to #8. Heavenly Sword and Motorstorm also saw increases. It appears Sony is finally getting the PS3 into a price range consumers are comfortable with.
40GB PS3 announced for Japan, Sony introduces white PS3
Sony announced today the 40GB PS3 will go on sale in Japan beginning Nov. 11. The 20GB and 60GB models, both still available in Japan, will have a 5,000 yen ($43) price cut next week. This means that the prices for the PS3 in Japan will be 20GB at 44,980 yen ($384), 60GB at 54,980 yen ($469) and 40GB at 39,980 yen ($341) yen. The 40GB is cheaper than the 20GB version, however it will lack backwards compatibility, memory card slots and a couple USB ports.Sony is also unleashing a white version of the 40GB PS3 model for Japan in ceramic white. It will cost the same as the regular black PS3. A white DualShock 3 controller will also be available to purchase beginning Nov 11. If Sony can't offer consumers backwards compatibility, might as well razzle dazzle 'em with new colors.
Analysts believe 80GB to go $499 this year
With all the 60GB PlayStation 3s out of the warehouse and finding homes, it's time for the analysts to say that the 80GB PS3 will drop to $499 (duh) -- this year (wha?). Both Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter and -- please sense the Alan Rickman octave change -- simExchange analyst Jesse Divnich, believe there will be a price cut for the 80GB model before Jesus' birthday.The analysts go on to say what you can probably just guess. Unless Sony wants to eat a huge helping of "we are total jerks," they'll have to drop the 80GB price to remove the clearance sale tag their 60GB model has been stuck with since the PR nightmare during E3 week when they announced the price drop and followed it up on Friday by announcing a discontinuation of the 60GB model. It's all about the timing now. When will the 60GBs be gone? Who's buying them with this second price drop ready to pop out? We know it has to happen for the sake of PR.
PS3 60GB are officially all out in the wild
PC World reports all the 60GB PS3s are out of the house and looking for a home. Sony's Dave Karraker confirms, "We no longer have any inventory in SCEA warehouses. All inventory has been purchased and shipped to retailers." So, if you still want a PS3 without limited backwards compatibility, here's your last chance. Once the 60GB sell out, that's all she wrote.Now, we have to ask, was it all a clearance sale or will the 80GB drop down to the $499 price once the channel is cleared? Karraker says, "We won't be making any further announcements ... until the 60GB model is exhausted and market conditions are evaluated." Place your bets if it'll be before or after the holiday. Whatever it takes to build that install base at this point.[Thanks Marcus]
Sony not cutting price in Europe ... ouch!
We just felt Europe's pain. Sony has announced that they will not be cutting the price of the European PlayStation 3 and they will not be offering the 80GB PS3 at this time either. To compensate, Sony will offer a "starter pack" at the respective countries current price. For example, in England, the £425 PS3 will allegedly have an extra £115 of content included as well. No word yet on what that will be.So, um, yeah. There's speculation of a second price cut in the States before the end of the year and Europe just can't get any love. Hey, at least for this they've got universal healthcare, good cheese, cheap wine ... we're just trying to find the silver lining in this. Sorry.[Thanks GiantHaystax]
