Incline PS4 price in Brazil

[felipepepe]

Sony just revealed the price of a PS4 in Brazil: 3.999,99 reais, or ~1.846 US dollars. The suggested price for it in the US is 400 dollars.

Oddly enough, the Xbox One, while costing 500 dollars in the US, is way cheaper than the PS4 in Brazil, being sold for "only" 2.200,00 reais (~1.016 US dollars).

I wrote a piece on my views about this issue:

Spoiler

Thank you for your attention.

 

[Turisas]

Favela dwellers would just pirate the games anyway, so might as well exclude them right at the source.

 

[felipepepe]

Yeah, it's probably just Sony not wanting to spend the heavy subsidy they must have with each PS4 to release them at 400 USD... us BR HUEHUEHUE monkeys would just buy used games and try to pirate it anyway, or so they believe.

 

[evdk]

Favela dwellers would just pirate the games anyway, so might as well exclude them right at the source.

Or to be more exact since game will get pirated anyway they may as well not bother subsiding the price.

EDIT: Goddammit, pepe.

 

[bonescraper]

Oh my gawd, i envy you BRos, i wish it will cost above 1k$ here too. The plague should be stopped at its infancy.

 

[Turisas]

Yeah, it's probably just Sony not wanting to spend the heavy subsidy they must have with each PS4 to release them at 400 USD... us BR HUEHUEHUE monkeys would just buy used games and try to pirate it anyway, or so they believe.

Plus I'm pretty sure they'll only have limited quantities at a worldwide scale, so it makes more sense to put most of your effort in the most important markets (those initial sales that launch the next-gen can be crucial to establish your market presence). They'll just take the money off of the rich kids first and then lower the prices next year once they can increase supply. Or how much were the current consoles at launch?

 

[bonescraper]

By the way i just wasted 400$ on a 500GB SSD

 

[felipepepe]

how much were the current consoles at launch?

Well, officially the Xbox 360 was released here at the end of 2006, for R$ 2.999,00... the PS3 came only in late 2010, and for R$ 2.000,00.

But they all sold here way cheaper via black market before that.

 

[dnf]

Our consoletard are more retarded than your consoletards . Suck it down firstworldia.

 

[Delterius]

It is routinely cheaper to actually go on a trip to the US and buy a new console rather than buying it here. Some would blame our high taxes and others would also blame the fact that those taxes aren't even invested on infrastructure, driving prices upward. But its much worse than that.

Brazilian consumer culture is amazingly backwards, with cheap automatically meaning shit and expensive the polar opposite. This isn't even limited to services, btw. Wonder how many of my Huehue compatriots know that when Luciano Huck created a fashion franchise he didn't sell a single shirt until he drove the prices up by the hundreds of reais, easily translated into hundreds of dollars.

A minority of people will be most certainly willing to pay 2000 dollars for a PS4 (that is, if the Xbox One didn't actually exist) while the slightly poorer 'masses' (read, middle to high class B) would also grind still outrageous prices of a thousand dollars less for the console.

So, yes, brazilian consumers are idiots who deserve to be ripped off their money. In my experience though, older gamers might be particularly sawyy about it (Glorious be Gaben and the drug trafick/police corruption fueling black markets of pirated and otherwise acquired oddities) but their mothers aren't. Oh, sure, gloat about how the console kids are fucked but don't think for a second that the PC market has it any better. I used to believe the 'but PCs are expensive!' myth until I actually bothered to see the pricings for components on the US.

Naturally, when Sony announced a bizarre dream of toning the PS4's price down to the pipedream of a 1000 dollars, a lot of people were excited. Not really for the announced 'projection' (because it was insane, I mean, we'd be almost as much ripped off as the british - can't have that) but rather because of the possibility that, finally, it won't be cheaper to fly to Miami and buy a console there.

In closing, this is a tale not just of senseless taxation and crumbling infrastructure but also one of misguided greed. Not that I care --- Glorious Be Gaben and His Piracy-Like Prices et all. Hue be His Laugh.

 

[felipepepe]

Brazilian consumer culture is amazingly backwards, with cheap automatically meaning shit and expensive the polar opposite. This isn't even limited to services, btw. Wonder how many of my Huehue compatriots know that when Luciano Huck created a fashion franchise he didn't sell a single shirt until he drove the prices up by the hundreds of reais, easily translated into hundreds of dollars.

Careful bro, while part of this is true, things are way more complex...

Huck's brand didn't sell because the cheap price made it look like cheap shit for poor people, and clothing brands are a purely aspirational product. The ONLY difference from my cheap Hering jeans and a insanely over-priced Diesel jeans is the fucking name on the tag and all the status it brings. For centuries clothes are used as a distinction between classes and status, and nowadays is no different. Due the economic growth on the last decade, many Brazilians now have some spare money and a more confortable life; buying cheap clothing is now unacceptable for Brazil's rising low/middle class; on the contrary, they take debts to buy expensive shit, so they may look and feel rich. But that doesn't mean this is something exclusive to huehue's, it's just that the rest of the world in a a huge economical crisis ATM... but even so companies like Apple makes billions on the same line of business.

A PS4, on the other hand, is a established product, the power of it's brand/technology/name is enough to grand tons of "status". And even if Sony sold it at 200 reais everyone would buy it, because it's mainly a entertainment product and only secondly a status symbol. No, Sony doesn't sell PS4s here for 4k to try to add value to the product, but probably to avoid spending the MASSIVE subsidy each console costs them on a market that's not vital to them.

 

[DalekFlay]

I hope console prices outside the US and Western Europe continue to be amazingly, stupidly high so that those countries will keep being predominantly PC bros

 

[Delterius]

felipepepe I live here, I saw that grandma complaining on Globo about how the piss poor people dare to even afford the same toilet paper she does. But I'm kind of torn here, Brazil is a key market on the growth of gaming spending, which should justify investment, and I doubt Microsoft is selling their console at a loss. Pretty sure the PS3 is still imported and its not sold at even close to its launch price. And if it isn't, wouldn't that mean those Massive subsidies aren't that much massive anymore?

I'm convinced that this isn't a necessary cost, its a matter of profit. But I trust an upstanding marketting slave such yerself might now of a few pie charts that can convince me otherwise, =p

so that those countries will keep being predominantly PC bros

Back in the polish piracy thread we briefly discussed how Brazil's black market took a different turn than our eastern friends. Many are migrating to PC, Glory be to Gaben, but we still have a bit of a console heritage. I'd like to see some numbers on that too, but I wouldn't know where to start.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Yeah, it's probably just Sony not wanting to spend the heavy subsidy they must have with each PS4 to release them at 400 USD... us BR HUEHUEHUE monkeys would just buy used games and try to pirate it anyway, or so they believe.

Well, yeah the favelados will just pirate everything, but the people who would gladly pay for a fairly priced console will now mostly buy them from the friendly neighbourhood smuggler or import. Good job killing your potential markets before your competition does it for you, I guess. The 360 has been successful here (every store has plenty of accessories and new games for sale every week), so there is a market as long as you don't go full jewish. For 4000 BR$ I can get a really pimped PC, and there would still be a lot of money left.

 

[felipepepe]

I just googled it, seems like Sony indeed subsidies heavily, losing $60 for each PS4 sold, while the Xbone actually profits from each sale. That helps explain why Microsoft is happy selling at "regular BR prices", but Sony is not. Losing $60 per console is A LOT! How many games must each console owner buy just to cover the expenses, 6? Maybe more? And that's original games at a retailer, not used or pirate games. makes sense (but it's still a douche move) for them to prioritize other markets.

Especially since market research here must be impossible. Just imagine Sony's data, that can't track any of the imported games from travels, gringo friends and sites like eStarland, nor anything being sold everything that's sold in the omnipresent black market. Must be like, 5 games sold per month. Suits look at that and go "HELL NO, we ain't spending $60 per console for THIS!"

The 360 has been successful here (every store has plenty of accessories and new games for sale every week), so there is a market as long as you don't go full jewish.

Remember, there was no PS3 pirating until some few years ago... every next-gen pirate HAD to buy a 360 or be stuck with original games on the PS3. That explains a lot.

 

[Excidium]

Are they serious? For that price you could go fool around in kwa and buy one there.

 

[Blaine]

Brazil's cost of living is significantly lower than in the US, yet they're charging over 4x more for it in absolute value?

For $1,800, you could buy a pretty fantastic gaming rig. Or you could have someone from the US ship you a PS4 a Hell of a lot cheaper, though I don't doubt there are three dozen laws and/or taxes to contend with in that case.

Fortunately, as a Codexer, you know the right thing to do was to not buy one in the first place.

 

[Delterius]

"HELL NO, we ain't spending $60 per console for THIS!"

I highly doubt that the bridge between Brazil Cost and the PS4's theoretical profit is 60 dollars, Felipe. I thought you were talking about specific subsidies for dodging the government's taxes. Like local production.

 

[Kz3r0]

Remember, there was no PS3 pirating until some few years ago... every next-gen pirate HAD to buy a 360 or be stuck with original games on the PS3. That explains a lot.

The scene has grown incompetent or they managed to defeat piracy?

 

[Delterius]

Remember, there was no PS3 pirating until some few years ago... every next-gen pirate HAD to buy a 360 or be stuck with original games on the PS3. That explains a lot.

The scene has grown incompetent or they managed to defeat piracy?

The Xbox was easier to pirate.

 

[Kz3r0]

Remember, there was no PS3 pirating until some few years ago... every next-gen pirate HAD to buy a 360 or be stuck with original games on the PS3. That explains a lot.

The scene has grown incompetent or they managed to defeat piracy?

The Xbox was easier to pirate.

So even your hackers are a bunch of lazy huhehuehuehue?

 

[Delterius]

The pirates are lazy. Those more of us just 'tocou o foda-se' and bought a PC -- Glory be to Gaben.

(and later bought a 3DS because of Zelda nostalgia)

 

[Darth Slaughter]

Are they serious? For that price you could go fool around in kwa and buy one there.

I'm fooling around in kwa next november, and I'm considering buying one... I rarely use my PS3 other than as a fancy blu-ray player, but sometimes I like playing some exclusive games I can't on PC (most exclusive x-box games are available on PC). It will depend on what PS4 will have exclusively, and if there's nothing else for me to spend my dollars on. Last year I bought a video card, so I won't spend money on my PC right now, since it's already running everything.

About brazilians buying expensive clothes, my friends keep pushing me to buy lots of shirts, pants and shoes in kwa, but I don't give a fuck to clothing and this shit.

 

[felipepepe]

"HELL NO, we ain't spending $60 per console for THIS!"

I highly doubt that the bridge between Brazil Cost and the PS4's theoretical profit is 60 dollars, Felipe. I thought you were talking about specific subsidies for dodging the government's taxes. Like local production.

Bro, you're not understanding this. Anywhere in the world, even in Japan/US, Sony loses $60 per PS4 sold. A PS4 costs $460 to build but is sold for $400. There's no profit, they will only recoup the money from the % they get from every PS4 game sold, that has to pay licensing right to them, since the PS4 is a closed system.

It's a old (but risky) marketing strategy, this way they can sell the PS4 cheaper than the Xbone and start ahead on the next-gen race, with a larger player base. The E3 presentation clearly showed that they won the hearts of the gamers at that time, but how that will translate to actual sales is a mystery.

Considering that, and imagining that each console owner has to buy 6 new & original games to cover Sony's costs and start giving them profit, it's only natural that they focus on markets where people can buy lots of games, not in HUEHUHUEland, where I only bought 8 PS3 games in 3 years, all of them used.

 

[Delterius]

"HELL NO, we ain't spending $60 per console for THIS!"

I highly doubt that the bridge between Brazil Cost and the PS4's theoretical profit is 60 dollars, Felipe. I thought you were talking about specific subsidies for dodging the government's taxes. Like local production.

Bro, you're not understanding this. Anywhere in the world, even in Japan/US, Sony loses $60 per PS4 sold. There's no profit, they will only recoup the money from the % they get from every PS4 game sold, that has to pay licensing right to them, since the PS4 is a closed system.

It's a old (but risky) marketing strategy, this way they can sell the PS4 cheaper than the Xbone and start ahead on the next-gen race, with a larger player base. The E3 presentation clearly showed that they won the hearts of the gamers at that time, but how that will translate to actual sales is a mystery.

I thought you were posing that Sony doesn't think the brazilian market worthy of such an investment, hence at least part of the increased price. But that's still nothing compared to the rise, sans taxes even.

Not a year ago I used to remind people that the PS3 was launched for the remarkable sale of 10,000 R$ in some places. If what we're seeing with the PS4 isn't a rehash of Sony's Brazil Profit, I certainly don't know what else could possibly be.