But Sony Computer Entertainment America VP of sales Ian Jackson said on Thursday it's the value that counts.
At the BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Conference on Thursday, he said, "Now, I've heard it said a number of times from a lot of different folks: 'Well, you know, It's all about price and it's all about what you can provide, and everybody's price conscious.'"
He described the PS3 as a device with entertainment versatility, strong game support and Blu-ray compatibility. "There is no product in the industry today on the videogame console market that delivers what a PlayStation 3 delivers for under $400, in the case of the 80GB."
From the beginning, Sony has taken flack for the price of the console, as the 60GB originally launched for $599, due in part to an expensive Blu-ray drive.
Today, the top-selling mass market-focused Wii sells for $249, while after a recent price cut, three models in the Xbox 360 line sell for $199 to $399.
Nevertheless, Jackson said Sony's fiscal year 2009 PS3 unit sales target of 10 million units worldwide stands. "We're on track to hit those numbers, and we will hit those numbers," he said.
He noted that to date, total worldwide PS3 hardware sales are 16.8 million.
Jackson also stated that worldwide PS3 software sales stand at 115 million units.
"Hands down, it would be tough to argue that we don't have the support of the publishing community more so than we ever had in the past," he stated. "There's a lot of history, there's a lot of following, there's a lot of brand recognition."
He claimed publishers on PS3 enjoy a return on investment, adding "we're getting the cost of our development tools ... down, and we're seeing more and more publishers getting on board not only for the first and second time, but coming back and writing an extensive library of titles for our platform."