PS3 and XBox 360 prices in different currencies/countries

[Beppo]

Just something about the current pricing of the PS3 and Xbox 360:

Standard PS3 40GB:
US$ 399.99 (US$ 400 = € 258)
￥37,581 (￥38,000 = € 228)
£289.99 (£290 = € 366)
€ 394.95

Standard XBox 360 20GB:
US$ 349.99 (US$ 350 = € 226)
￥31,668 (￥31,668 = € 190)
£189.99 (£190 = €240)
€ 225

all prices from Amazon.com/co.jp/co.uk/.de.

XBox 360 is comparable in all four currencies, but the PS3 is way more expensive in £ and €.
Question... why?

 

[Snakeye]

Most probably because Sony hates Europe?

Every GT-Series fan in Europe knows what PAL stands for: Product Always Late.

Other than that - perhaps their marketing people think that Europeans think more expensive things are more worth it - no other way one could explain an iPhone without contract costed ~1300€ - and the limited number was sold out in rather short time. But I digress.

How about sending them clowns a message by not buying it (until GT5 final comes out at least?). Ooookay, I'm a GT whore..

 

[zeep]

Beppo you shouldn't have that much free time. Please fix it.

 

[Beppo]

No, not much free time... just for reference, seriously.

 

[Turin_Turambar]

Europe is the strongest market for Sony, so they can raise the price of their machine here to win the money they are losing with the low prices in another markets.

 

[G-Fresh]

They blame stuff like VAT, distribution costs and NTSC to PAL conversions and to be honest there is a bit of truth to that, but the maths don't really add up. The real reason is that average wages are higher in European countries so they charge more because they know we can pay it.

 

[geogob]

The reason can be resumed in one word: marketing.

If you look at it, its even worse for cars! I paid my Golf 5 about half the price of what its cost in Germany. They barely make in profit on the car here, yet they have to sell it at that price here.

It's all a question of competition, product category, target market and, above all, what people are ready to pay for for a product of the targeted market/category.

 

[Carpetsmoker]

Some time ago I bought a vBulletin license.

US price: 180 USD = 115 EUR
EU Price: 144 EUR = 223 USD

This is excluding VAT btw ... And the funny thing is you can just use USD prices even if you live in Europe ...

 

[Rostam]

If Europeans do decide to buy a PS3, there are a few things to keep in mind. One of which is that all PS3 games are region free - so buying from Canada or the US can easily save up to 30%...

But no, I don't know why the PS3 is that much more expensive. I guess I was in luck when I bought mine: it was 370 euro's for a PS3 60gb with 4 controllers (a friend of mine works in a store so we managed to do a little fraud by exchanging Motorstorm and Resistance, two ****ty games which were both priced at 65 euros, for 2 controllers and some money back).

What is even worse is the price for Rock Band in Europe. It's actually cheaper to have it sent from the US and pay for the import than to buy it in Europe - not to mention the fact that the game still isn't available here for months to come.

/me goes back to Metal Gear Solid 4, which is an AWESOME game (camouflage and iron sights FTW)