Despite its disappointing sales, Sony is determined not to lower PS Vita’s price as a way to stimulate sales.
PS Vita’s weak sales have forced Sony to lower its fiscal year projections by 25%. The new projections expect that Sony will sell 12 million handhelds (including PSP, PSP Go and PSP Vita) by March 2013, down from the 16 million figure originally forecasted.
Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studio president Shuhei Yoshida acknowledged that PS Vita’s high price plays a major role in keeping some customers away. However, he argued that it is "too early" to cut the price of an 8 months old system.
Sony has announced several new PS Vita titles at Gamescom this week. It was noted however that none of the PS Vita exclusives were third party.
When faced with a similar problem last year, Nintendo yielded to market forces and cut its 3DS price by around 30% less than 6 months after launch. 3DS hardware sales saw a considerable boost immediately and continued at a healthier pace since then.
Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida revealed that the company’s engineers are working to reduce PS Vita manufacturing costs. The handheld might get a price cut then, but this is unlikely to happen in 2012.