Ryan remarks that the UK market is ”more like US than continental Europe.” In other PAL territories the PS3 dominates sales but it’s ”inverted in the UK.”
”This is something we have been planning for a while,” said SCEE CEO Jim Ryan, referring to the new lower price point for PlayStation 3. “Getting to £199 is fantastic in the UK. It’s a real milestone. UK is one of the territories where we have to do better.”
“Whether you approach the UK from the perspective of our momentum, or the perspective of the competitive landscape, for us the UK is more like US than continental Europe.”
”If you look across the PAL territory, where typically we outsell our competitors by around 50 per cent on a weekly basis, it’s inverted in the UK,” he added.
“That is something we want to address.”
Ryan is unwilling to lay the majority of the blame on the state of the economy in the UK for the PlayStation 3’s weaker performance against competitors, or the health of retail.
“It’s somewhat the case but I wouldn’t seek to lay it all at the door of those problems. We have similarly challenged economies in other territories in the world where our business is particularly vibrant,” noted the top executive.
”History has shown us that once you get to £199 you hit lift off. We can do some serious business and this kick-starts that. Getting to £199 was a defining moment for the PSone and PS2 – this will be no different.” The PS2 has cleared 50 million units in the UK.
Currently the PlayStation 3 stands at around the 22 million units mark.