So why not $1,500?

[AV_Integrated]

This is a question that has been bugging me. I mean, I know that $500 and $600 is a good bit to spend on the PS3 to start off with, but why wouldn't Sony go ahead and charge a good deal more?

It seems that about 75%+ of people in line may have JUST been there to resell them. I spoke with a lady today (about 50 years old) who said that she camped out for 3 days at Wal-Mart to get a PS3. She sold it for $1,300 (kind of low) and was excited for a great Christmas. The first guy in line at Wal-Mart sold it for over two grand!

But, why doesn't Sony just say F'-it! Go ahead and charge $1,500 for the first few hundred thousand units. Make some serious profit that can be channelled back into the company and allow for rapid price decreases on the next consoles that are released. It isn't like there aren't enough buyers out there willing to pay that much and it isn't like they have some major surplus of units sitting around in warehouses.

So, why not?

I understand that this would have meant that I would not have been able to get one at EB/GS early on, but I really would understand that. But, call it 500,000 units sold while making a PROFIT of $500 a console instead of selling them at a loss of $300+ a console would equate to a 400 million dollar revenue swing with 250 million of that being profit that can be applied to future sales.

Would it cause a certain amount of turmoil? Yes! Absolutely! But, when rapid price drops followed within a few months bringing pricing down by over 50% seems like it would get a lot of continued press and would continue to spark more and more interest in the console.

I'm not sure I get why Sony would not follow supply and demand tactics for an initial release with a near 100% guarantee of sell-out regardless of price.