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Psst! Wanna Buy A Soon To Be Obsolete iPod or Playstion?
Electronics | Apr 23, 06
Rapid innovation makes the purchase of technology an investment in approaching obsolescence. In the spirit of that realization, it's worth noting some recent news from Apple and Sony. Last week, Apple's CFO reportedly said his firm expected this quarter's average iPod price to fall from the prior quarter's level, and Sony announced a $20 cut in the PlayStation 2's suggested retail price, to $129.99.
Now Cupertino rolls out new iPod models with such frequency that, even in the absence of explicit new product announcements, the market might be expected to "price in" the coming replacement of the top of the line. And indeed, we've been seeing a noisy process of iPod price decline for the last few months – see for example the PriceTrend graph of the iPod Video 60 GB-5G below.
Time Period: 10/17/2005 through 4/17/2006
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price
By contrast, Sony's introduction of the next generation PlayStation 3 has been put off until November (see "Sony To Offer Cheaper PlayStation Portable As PlayStation 3 Release Delayed"). Curiously, this development stall may have helped Sony hold the line on PlayStation 2's price, with the lowest price offered by vendors on PriceSCAN.com hovering close to the old suggested retail price. But the PS2 must compete against Microsoft and Nintendo systems, and Sony may have felt it needed to reduce the price of its aging system to preserve market share ahead of its delayed new product.
In any case, if you buy either product now, you'll be getting a discount. And, at least for a little while, you'll own the state of the art.
Posted by jeffrey.trester (Permalink)
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