It is no secret that whenever an international company announces a price cut on a product it takes a while before it trickles down to South African consumers.
This seems fair enough, as local distributors are holding stock brought over on the previous price and must therefore maintain the old price until old stock is depleted.
Upon investigation, it becomes clear that while a few retailers have dropped the Xbox 360 Elite price to match Microsoft SA’s new Recommended Retail Price (RRP), a number of others are still carrying the old price tag of R4 999. This leaves us in a situation where uninformed consumers may end up paying as much as R1 600 more for the console than its current RRP.
Incredible Connection
Incredible Connection is one store which seems to be a bit slow in implementing the price reduction, and is still advertising the Elite bundle for R4 999. It is also still advertising the PS3 80GB Killzone II bundle for R4 999. While SterKinekor has not officially announced a new PS3 price, other retailers around the country are selling the new Slim unit for R3 800.
Take 2.co.za
Xbox 360 Elite is advertised ‘on special’ for R3 399 at Take2.co.za despite the fact that this is the new RRP. The normal price on Take 2 for this unit is advertised as R3 619.
The Xbox Arcade unit is advertised on special for R2 499 with a normal price of R2 731.
The Elite Halo Ultimate bundle is listed as being on special for R3 999, with a normal price of R4 228, making it arguably Take 2’s best value Xbox 360 purchase as it includes Halo 3 and the newly released Halo ODST.
While Take 2 is not looking great on the Xbox 360 front, it is advertising a Playstation 3 120GB Slim on special for R3 799, with a normal price of R4 166. The ‘special’ price may be a ploy, as we do not see Take 2 increasing the price of the Slim to R4 166. The PS3 Slim is currently on pre-order through Take 2 and will only become available in October.
Kalahari.net
Xbox 360 Elite is being advertised at its RRP of R3 399. Kalahari has interestingly maintained the price of its Xbox 360 60GB Pro bundle at R3 599, making it R200 more expensive than the Elite which features double the hard drive space. We would have expected Kalahari to reduce the price of the 60GB Pro until they managed to clear stock of the discontinued console.
The PS3 80GB console has been reduced to R4 199, a bit higher than many would like considering that it carries the same RRP as the PS3 Slim internationally.
It is not all bad for PS3 fans though as Kalahari do appear to have the lowest South African price on a PS3 Slim which is on preorder for R3 699 and is expected to become available late this month.
Look and Listen
Anyone who walks into a Look and Listen store today will see that the retailer is aggressively marketing the Xbox 360 price cut. The Elite bundle is now available through Look and Listen for its RRP of R3 399.
The retailer is also one of the only places in the country where you will already find the PS3 Slim console, which is available and is selling for R3 899, making it slightly more expensive than Take 2 and Kalahari, but with the benefit of immediate availability. There does not appear to be any sign of the regular PS3 80GB, although this is likely to vary from store to store.
BT Games
As usual BT Games has been quick to implement the new price cut, and is selling the Xbox 360 Elite bundle for R3 399.
The retailer is also selling the 60GB Pro for R3 000 for as long as stock lasts, and according to a shop assistant it has discontinued the Xbox 360 Arcade bundle.
It also has limited access to the PS3 Slim which it is selling for R3 800, although the shop assistant informed MyGaming that stock is very limited around the country. BT Games continues to sell the PS3 80GB console for a ridiculous R5 400.
It would appear that most local retailers have made a concerted effort to realign the PS3 and Xbox 360 pricing which was reduced less than one month ago. Only a few retailers such as Incredible Connection, as well as Hi-Fi Corp, which does not seem to have a uniform nationwide pricing structure on consoles, with some stores carrying the Arcade for as much as R3 600, have not reduced their console prices.
Most watchful shoppers will be able to find the Elite for its new price of R3 399 as well as the PS3 Slim for around R3 800.
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