Uh...duh...exactly what I've been saying all along...the US will get the 40GB after the 60GB sku inventory is depleted further.  That is the only thing holding them back from introducing the 40GB and from "unbundling" the 80GB version and dropping its price to $499.

bundle the 60gig with R&C and it will see out in a few weeks

Drop the 60GB to $450 or less and it'll be gone before November 2.

Thank You Mister Obivous!

I disagree on the BC issue. Most people that have waited dont have enough money to get one. The fact that it is BC less, makes the 40GB very unatractive.

psn id: gingo.... pachter is the best analyst that i've heard although most of the things he says are very obvious he gets most predictions correct so i have respect for him hopefully this is true

I agree with the BC issue, after moving to PS2, I had little desire to play PS1 games (except in the 1st month due to lack of titles I owned).  Besides you already have your PS2 if you need it.  Lack of card reader is a greater issue.

lack of BC and card reader

I would never get a PS3 that didn't have backwards compatibility, most especially because they do the BC through emulation now, so they don't have the spend the extra cash on the unit having the extra chip on board.

Well with the launch of the 40GB, more people are gonna be willing to buy the PS3, with this being done people are going to ask the difference between the 40GB and 60GB and thus making it more appealing to buy the 60GB due to some features that the 40GB may lack.

if you really want to have bc then buy the 60gb. Think aboiu tit if you have ps2 games you most likely have a ps2.

the software for BC costs money, i myself will not get a ps3 till around MGS4 at the moment no games interest me but its ps3 so there should be some in the future.

i hope there is either 60gb left on shelves or the 80gb here in the uk as i wont get the 40gb, most my money goes to getting games for x360 and college

Um alot of people that's going to get PS3 before Christmas wont have enough money to get a game with it at first... So Backwards compatibility will be a very high regard.

I think the real reason Sony has made no annoucement yet is because they are testing the reaction to the 40GB in Europe first. Think about it, the European market would give a rough approximation of how the American market would respond (more so than say Japan or the Middle East) to the new hardware. The fact that Sony has not even confirmed a RUMOR about an American 40GB is because they do not want to get into any confirmation about what the American 40GB PS3 will have or not have hardware wise. If the 40GB SKU that lacks BC fails miserably in Europe because of BC or card readers, etc, then Sony will announce an American 40GB that hasthose features. America is a larger market than Europe for Sony ATM, so Sony is using Europe as a sort of hardware guinea pig. A mistake there would let sony know what they need to fix for an american version, without nearly as large a financial hit than a huge blunder in America.

you people will simply never be happy.  stop being cheap a** mothers and buy it if you want it.  if not stfu

Thing is though people have waited for a long time to buy a PS3 at a reasonable price they are willing to pay. If they don't already have a PS2 the need not worry about BC if they even care about that.

In any case, they can always buy the higher end models if the want the full goodies.

Pachter is a freaking tool. He's spewing garbage everyone either knows already or is blatantly obvious, except he's got no clue on the concept of backwards compatability. Because people who waited would still be in the market for it. A friend of mine just ordered a 80gb with the intention of buying brand new PS2 games that he didnt get to play when he traded off his PS2 for a 36*.

Once again proving the point I've stated dozens of times that Backwards compatability is an important feature. Sony is only removing it in a deserate measure to get people to buy the system but it's not going to have the effect it should because it's a tardpack with deminished functionality.

http://www.plasmas4free.com/default.aspx?r=930609

No BC is a big mistake - I guarantee they will look back two years from now and it will be obvious.

 

ABC's OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT....RULE #1: CUSTOMER RETENTION; Make it easy for your existing customers to upgrade using your product. - "Easy" means "make the decision to upgrade simple" (ie: no confusion), therefore....maintain compatibility with what they have now. "Simple" also means keeping the number of configurations / choices to a minimum.

 

As for opinions of whether BC is important...If just one in ten people say it is...then it is. Only an idiot would cut out 10% of the total market potential. Sony cant afford to limit itself. 10% of 120 million is 12 million....Ummm that's XBox 360's current installed base. Does Sony want to help them double that by pissing off PS2 users who want BC?

 

Inventory management will always be difficult when you chop & change your SKU's too frequently. These guys are out of control. PS3 is a great machine, the original model was fine - but the current management are broken - Sony needs to fix that.