PlayStation 3 Sales Surge After Price Cut

Since the release of the $399, 40GB PlayStation 3 and a price cut for the 80GB PS3, sales of the troubled console have more than doubled. Has Sony found the tipping point for PS3 pricing?

The AP reports that Sony sold more than 100,000 PS3 consoles in the week ending November 11, just after the release of the 40GB console and the $100 price cut on the 80GB PS3 (to $499 from $599). That's a pretty healthy increase over the PS3's weekly sales average of just 30,000 to 40,000 before the price cuts, and a clear sign that the new pricing is winning over gamers.

Of course, the PlayStation 3 still has a ways to go compared to the competition. September sales figures from NPD Group showed the Xbox 360 moving about 528,000 units, or about 132,000 consoles a week (that's during the Halo 3 launch month, mind you), while Nintendo sold about 501,000 Wiis, or about 125,500 units a week.

Still, the numbers seem to tell us that the PlayStation 3 is far from dead—and it also throws more fuel on the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD fire. If you recall, more than 90,000 HD DVD players were sold on the weekend of the $99 HD DVD fire sale; yet here's Sony, moving 100,000 Blu-ray-equipped PS3s in a single week. Looks like the HD format-war stalemate is destined to continue, at least for now.

Related:
Price cut boosts PlayStation 3 sales [Yahoo! News]