Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, the PS3 Slim seems to be ahead of market expectations this month. He speculates that because the demand for the PS3 is greater than it ever has been, shortages may be possible due to the unexpected climb of PS3 sales. He also says that the sales climb of the PS3 seem to be eating away at the 360’s sales, thus making the competition between the two giants even more loud.

Brad’s Take: Things seem to finally get interesting with the console makers. There’s no question that the PS3 would see a jump in sales after the drop, but I didn’t think the spike would actually eat away the 360 and cause shortages.

Then again, this could also just be some Sony spin to help the ferver of demand for the new console, but it’s still nice to finally see Sony being competitive.

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Brad’s Take: Jeez, did that take long enough? You know, there’s something to be said about Sony’s Public Relations that let’s leaks go through their company AND STILL decide to announce it 2 – 3 months after the damned leak. I mean, really, what did you think that was going to do Sony?

Anyway, if you haven’t bought a PS3, you have your reason to now: it’s affordable. Now go!

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Brad’s Take: Man…can Sony actually catch a break? K-Mart posts their big reveal prematurely (even though we all knew they would announce the system at Gamescom) thus stealing any thunder that Sony had for the new Slim PS3.

It’s truly a shame for Sony…but those of you who have been waiting on getting a PS3, now may be your best time, since FYE is slashing $100 off their current PS3 stock.

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On top of that, the Wii’s install base in the United States alone is 24M, while Xbox Live has 28M subscribers in total.  

Brad’s Take: You know that big, goofy kid in High School that people make fun of because he’s…well…big and goofy? But he’s also shy so he can’t really defend himself against the tougher kids? A gentle giant of sorts? Yeah, well, that’s Sony this generation.

To have a scrappy upstart (Nintendo Wii) and the popular jock (Microsoft Xbox 360) take his position as team captain and taking away his girl just only adds salt into the wound of this poor giant soul.

And yes, I just made a sales story into a High School drama. You saw that correctly.

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This report seems to validate even more the rumors of a PS3 price cut coming in the middle of this month when Madden NFL 10 is to be released.

Brad’s Take: Now, let’s take a step back here. This is the same company that is making a cheaper to make PSP and charging MORE for that said item. This report, which is most likely to be true, doesn’t mean in thie slightest that a price cut is coming.

Let’s all remember that Sony has lost billions since the launch of the PS3 and they need to recoup those costs. Don’t be surprised if the cut doesn’t happen until, say…March 2010?

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Sony CFO Nobuyuki Oneda noted recently in a quarterly earnings report that the PS3 costs 10% higher than the price of the actual system. In plain terms: For every system Sony produces, they lose $40.

Mind you, about a year ago, Sony was reporting a $100 per unit loss on each system created.

Brad’s Take: It’s sounding less and less likely that a price drop will be in the works for the PS3. With Sony finally looking to break even in the next 6 – 9 months just on console distribution, it seems the likelihood of console bundles will be much more prevelant.

That being said, there’s no reason why next year wouldn’t be a possibility for a price cut on the PS3.

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