Install base momentum is huge. PS4 has seen no real 'deals', yet still leads HW sales. This steady incremental lead over the year will make the holiday months really interesting, if they should just go for the lower-volume/higher-profit-per-unit route. It seems an interesting question to me :
$299 with XXX sales
Vs
$249 with XXX sales + boost
Obviously you calculate the total difference with the raw gap between the totals, but of course more install base = more game/accessory/PS+ sales. It must be an interesting balance met internally with projections and incoming data on the market.
What makes this particularly interesting to me is that I absolutely expected PS4 and X1 to have $249 base SKUs by now as the standard price. Holding out this long at $299 with only a few $249 or under sales like that $189 X1S and $199 Slim deal last November means IMHO that a huge market is yet to be served in terms of $199 SKUs. I mean, once someone actually has a console, buying a $29 or $59 game is more possible here and there compared to saving $300+ just to get in the door at all. Not to mention a second controller, online sub, movie rental, etc.
That huge DRAM price/supply issue of the recent era complete with lawsuits over price fixing is something I believe probably impacted the feasibility of price cuts. 8GB of GDDR5 is still an expensive BoM even today, and possibly even higher than it was in 2013, and absolutely higher than 2015.
https://www.techspot.com/news/74369-samsung-micron-hynix-hit-class-action-suit-over.html
PS4, PS4 Slim, and PS4 Pro uses Samsung GDDR5 chips as well as the DDR3 pool.
X1S and OG uses Samsung DDR3, while X uses Samsung GDDR5 (12GB of higher clock bin, which is the most expensive of all SKUs).
Personally I believe that we are past the absolute worst part of the memory pricing, and things will improve from here. How fast, I cannot say.
