wraggster
July 29th, 2009, 15:57
With back to back conference calls this week by Ubisoft on Monday and THQ on Tuesday, we were treated to CEO-level insight into on some of the issues facing the gaming industry. Both Yves Guillemot from Ubisoft and Brian Farrell from THQ addressed the looming console price drops and we dutifully scribbled down every word.
Both agreed it wasn't their place to confirm any price drops. "We can't comment because it would depend very much on how those guys sell their machines and how ... they can decrease the price of those machines," said Guillemot. "Obviously we'll let the hardware guys announce the magnitude and timing [of a price cut]," said Farrell.
But just because they're not going to confirm a price drop doesn't mean they're not going to share their company's opinions on whether one is coming or not. "We think the battle between the three manufacturers will really be very fierce this year. All of them will really push hard to get this Christmas sale," Guillemot said in rough English. "They will act, we think."
Farrell was a little more specific: "The fact that Nintendo Wii is still at its launch price and PlayStation 3 is still at a relatively high price point by historical standards ... just look at the hardware numbers and it would seem that a price cut would be in order by at least two of the three manufacturers."
While Guillemot ended the price cuts discussion with hopeful remarks about the effect console price drops would have on his software business – "if the machines are going down in price, we can see a big increase of sales on all the machines" – Farrell was a little more direct stating, "Price cuts, again – they are factored into our guidance, our internal model. We do anticipate price cuts coming this Fall ... something on the higher end of the range certainly wouldn't surprise us."
Well, with all this chatter, it wouldn't surprise us either, Brian. Drop your best estimates in the comments.
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/28/thq-and-ubisoft-ceos-on-console-price-cuts/
Both agreed it wasn't their place to confirm any price drops. "We can't comment because it would depend very much on how those guys sell their machines and how ... they can decrease the price of those machines," said Guillemot. "Obviously we'll let the hardware guys announce the magnitude and timing [of a price cut]," said Farrell.
But just because they're not going to confirm a price drop doesn't mean they're not going to share their company's opinions on whether one is coming or not. "We think the battle between the three manufacturers will really be very fierce this year. All of them will really push hard to get this Christmas sale," Guillemot said in rough English. "They will act, we think."
Farrell was a little more specific: "The fact that Nintendo Wii is still at its launch price and PlayStation 3 is still at a relatively high price point by historical standards ... just look at the hardware numbers and it would seem that a price cut would be in order by at least two of the three manufacturers."
While Guillemot ended the price cuts discussion with hopeful remarks about the effect console price drops would have on his software business – "if the machines are going down in price, we can see a big increase of sales on all the machines" – Farrell was a little more direct stating, "Price cuts, again – they are factored into our guidance, our internal model. We do anticipate price cuts coming this Fall ... something on the higher end of the range certainly wouldn't surprise us."
Well, with all this chatter, it wouldn't surprise us either, Brian. Drop your best estimates in the comments.
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/28/thq-and-ubisoft-ceos-on-console-price-cuts/