US video game retailer GameStop expects both Sony and Nintendo to drop the price of their home consoles during the third quarter of its financial year.
Addressing investors, GameStop CEO Daniel DeMatteo stated that should the manufacturers hope to hit self imposed sales targets for the year, then a cut in RRP is essential as current prices are too high considering the economic situation.
"The hardware price points, given this economic environment are potentially too high, and if the platform holders are going to make the numbers that they forecasted for the year, those prices would have to change," stated DeMatteo. "Also, if you think about it, these hardware prices have stayed up longer in this cycle than in any other time before, and in a very dire economic environment, those two things seem to be mutually exclusive."
Sony have been under pressure to drop the price of the PlayStation 3 for some time now. But despite consistent rumours suggesting a cut was imminent, Sony have continued to deny anything was in the pipeline.
During the conference call DeMatteo outlined GameStop"s sales predictions of 33.5 million units, which had taken price cuts from both the Japanese manufacturers into account.
"That assumes that there will be price cuts on the PS3 and potentially one on the Wii. It"s hard to tell if we actually need a price cut on the Wii to get to our numbers. There are some price cuts built into that assumption, but not until the third quarter."
With E3 just a week away, the media focus is firmly on Sony who are widely tipped to introduce a cheaper PS3 either at the conference, or in the months following the show.