Sony Corp. is under pressure from video game publishers to cut the price of the PlayStation 3 console or risk seeing more development funds shift to Nintendo Co.'s Wii.
Sony, which has resisted calls for lower prices, is likely to shave $50 to $100 off the PS3 this month or next, said Mike Hickey, an analyst with Janco Partners Inc. of the U.S. Starting at $399.99, the PS3 is $200 more than the lowest-priced Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corp. and $150 more than the market-leading Wii.
Three years into the latest generation of game consoles, Sony is stuck in third place. Once the dominant player, Sony has half the worldwide users of the Wii, even though the PS3 has earned praise for its processing power, graphics and Blu-ray movie player. U.S. sales of the PS3 have declined for three straight months.