Sony Ditching 80GB PS3 Due to Poor Sales, says analyst

[Ioman]

Kind of a suprise, but I guess price trumps backwards compatibility! Bummer for those with PS2 games!

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/sony-ditching-80gb-ps3-due-to-poor-sales-says-analyst/19208/

Moreover, we spoke with Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey who told us, "Sony is likely dumping the 80GB version because it has failed to meet internal sales projections."

He added, "A recessionary environment will likely punctuate the 80GB version's relative and absolute retail sales disappointment. The recently released 40GB version is getting traction at retail, suggesting backward compatibility takes a backseat to the console's price point for current buyers."

[Ioman]

UPDATE 2: Well, this is interesting. We just heard from The NPD Group who told us, "In the last quarter (when both were on the market), the 80GB sold more units than the 40GB." When pressed for a more exact breakdown of the sales data between the two SKUs, NPD said they could not provide that. It's certainly a surprise to us, however, that the more expensive 80GB would have sold more than 40GB, which many have attributed the PS3 sales spike to.

Maybe the 80GB sold more, but there could be more margin in the 40GB model?