Michael Pachter is a name any fanboy can love or hate, depending on what he is saying that particular day. Generally Pachter offers relevant and deep analysis. On occasion the outspoken video games analyst, fires off some grade-A fanbait. Recently the loose lipped number cruncher called Sony’s new PSP Go a “rip-off”. Now he is singing a new tune. For those of you that missed his Michael’s latest tantalizing analysis…
“I’m sorry to say it. I don’t want to get bad fan mail from the Sony fanboys, but… They’re ripping off the consumer until they sell a couple million and if consumers don’t buy it then the price is going to come down. They’re making a lot more money on the PSP Go than the PSP-3000. And the PSP Go helps them because there’s no piracy.”
Whether Pachter has submitted to a drumbeat of fanboy ire or truly feels sorry we will never know. At least he took a moment to point out he misspoke in what falls just short of an apology.
“I sincerely regret the choice of words in my response to Geoff Keighley’s question in last week’s Bonus Round, where I said that Sony is ‘ripping off’ the consumer by pricing the PSP Go at $249.99. I made a poor choice of words, and I do NOT think that Sony is doing anything nefarious in choosing their pricing strategy. The company has the right to price its products at a point that they think is competitive, and has no obligation to sell products at lower than a competitive price. They have been subsidizing purchases of the PS3 since launch, to the tune of 22 million sold at a loss of $100 or more apiece (on average), so if they are able to make a profit on the PSP Go, more power to them. They are pricing at a point that positions the PSP Go competitively with the iPod Touch, and the PSP Go arguably has much more value than the Apple product. Notwithstanding my view that the price point is too high to generate more than a few million units sold, I really think my comment was unfair …”
Michael is just reiterating the obvious. Sony has taken a beating on the PS3 and they did so to deliver a box they feel is the best possible entertainment system ever. If they can sell the PSP Go at $249 more power to them, they are a company in the business to make money afterall. At this point, they have earned this profit.
Is $249 too much? Should Pachter be muzzled? Leave your comments below.
(We are just kidding Michael.)
