There have been rumblings recently about a possible PS3 price increase in South Africa.
Yeah you read that right increase not decrease… Most of the rumours have been coming from Xbox fansites so I have not put much weight behind them but today I saw a link to Look and Listen where they are now selling the PS3 for R6799, a R500 increase from the previous price.
Could this rumour actually be true, could Ster Kinekor and Sony combined actually increase the price of the most expensive gaming console ever to hit our shores?
Let’s hope not because this is not going to go down well with the fans….
I have sent of some emails requesting confirmation, lets see what they say…
Link to Look and Listen
[Update] It seems BT Games has also increased the cost to R6499Incredible Connection is now selling at R6599
Last Updated: May 22, 2007
papa-action
May 22, 2007 at 16:12
Damn!! What the hell is going on? Amazon.co.uk is selling the console for 399 GBP (R5600) yet the price is increasing here !?!
kspraydad
May 22, 2007 at 16:44
The South African RAND is under alot of downward pressure in international currency markets….its value is dropping thus making your imports more expensive. It isn’t SONY raising prices but trying to maintain their home currency price in the face of YOUR falling RAND.
Here is a news article FROM TODAY:
South African financial markets are bracing themselves for two speeches by Tito Mboweni, the Reserve Bank governor.
Mboweni is due to make speeches at different locations tomorrow and on Friday. Analysts say Mboweni may use the opportunity to give greater clarity over the rand and interest rates.
Earlier this month Mboweni said the rand may need rebalancing given the country’s large current account deficit. However, analyst say the deficit could grow faster if oil prices remained at current levels and the rand weakened.
Analysts say this could force Mboweni to opt for a stronger currency, thus increasing the likelihood of a rate hike.
papa-action
May 22, 2007 at 17:30
Rubbish…The rand is currently at R 13.90 to the pound (I believe we import our PS3’s from the UK) . It was at somewhere around R14.20 when the PS3 was released here on 23 March and has in fact been hovering around R 14.00 to the pound since September 2006. They wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) increase the price in anticipation of currency weakness. I believe something else is behind this increase.
Ruslan
May 22, 2007 at 18:14
Nonsense, the same petrol talk wont fool us twice. Its either Ster Kinekor or Sony messing around. Now the PS3 is truly a niche product in SA.
LazySAGamer
May 22, 2007 at 22:10
I have been plagiarized, is that a compliment or just plain wrong?
http://www.ps3center.net/story-505.html
What’s even better is that he got more hits than me :)…
Ag well at least I am spreading the word and hopefully making a difference…
HungryHooligan
May 23, 2007 at 09:32
I say its plain wrong…Kick him in the head
papa-action
May 23, 2007 at 09:59
One time is a compliment…if it happens again kick ’em in the head 🙂
LazySAGamer
May 23, 2007 at 10:05
Hey you should follow the link from that trackback above and see the image the guy used, I think it’s good 🙂 Thanks for reading