No PS3 price drop for Australia

Sony Australia will be phasing out the 60GB PS3 in the region but it will not be cutting the price to help shift stock as is happening in Europe, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

Instead the current offer of the 60GB model with two free games and an extra controller will run until supplies are depleted, while the new 40GB unit will be introduced on 11th October for AUD 699.95.

The reason for it all, according to Sony Australia's Michael Ephraim, is that the 60GB PS3 is already in short supply in the region.

"There are very limited stocks," he told GameSpot. "I would say 20 - 30 per cent of retail stores have them in stock right now.

"That was always part of our plan to transition smoothly to a new SKU," he added.

Ephraim expects that the new lower-spec model will help double the installed base of the PS3 in Australia, which currently stands at about 80,000 units.

"We think that with the price reduction, we're going to come very close if not exceed doubling that number by the end of the year," he said.

Sony Europe initiated a change in its PS3 business plan late last week by introducing a new 40GB model and subsequently dropping the price of the 60GB unit to GBP 349.

It then emerged yesterday that the 60GB unit would actually be discontinued as soon as all current stocks were sold, leaving only the lower spec SKU on the market.