PS4 price drop in October? Xbox boss Phil Spencer predicts Sony will slash cost

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has predicted that Sony will announce a wider price cut for the PlayStation 4 next month, shortly after they announced a price cut for Japan at Tokyo Game Show in mid-September.

"I fully expect they will drop price. When I think about the playbook they've used in the past... we feel good about the plans we have in place going forward in the holiday. If history tells, then we'll see a price drop from them coming," Spencer told IGN.

During their TGS press conference PS4 announced a new price point of ¥34,980 ($292, £189) in Japan, which converts to $292.00, £189.00 and €258.00. The top-selling console currently retails in the UK at £299.99 for the 500GB and 1TB models, so should it happen the chances are this could be a significant price reduction.

Companies introducing price cuts at the two year mark of a console's life-cycle is nothing new. As Spencer says, the move was in Sony's playbook for the PS3 and Microsoft too reduced the price of their Xbox 360 at the same point, though by a smaller amount.

A price drop at this stage of the PS4's life makes sense for a number of reasons. Sony's line-up of exclusive releases for the remainder of the year is poor (virtually all their biggest titles are now out, well ahead of the Christmas rush), while Xbox One is offering up big-name titles like Halo 5 and Rise of the Tomb Raider.

PS4's significant market share and lead over the Xbox One means their share of multi-platform games is much larger too, and a cut-price console would further aid this when customers are rushing out to buy the likes of Fallout 4 and Star Wars: Battlefront.

If Sony were to announce a price cut the likely venue would be at Paris Games Week (28 October to 1 November) during which they will be holding a press conference. An announcement at Sony's PlayStation Experience 2015 event, which occurs on 5 and 6 December, would be too late for a price cut to have its fullest effect.

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