Sony's chairman sees no need to cut PlayStation 3 price

Sony Corp. Chairman Howard Stringer believes the company doesn't need to lower the price of the PlayStation 3 video-game console in response to a possible $50 cut in the Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360.

A price reduction by Microsoft would be evidence the Xbox 360 is falling behind in the contest for sales, Stringer said in an interview Friday at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Microsoft may lower the price of the Xbox 360. Sales of the console in the U.S. lagged behind Nintendo Co.'s Wii and the PlayStation 3 in the first five months of 2008, according to NPD Group Inc., a Port Washington, N.Y.-based researcher.

"We're not considering lowering the price," Stringer said. "We don't have to be nervous about what Xbox 360 does. We're in fine shape."

The PlayStation 3, which is equipped with a Blu-ray DVD player, can be used to watch high-definition movies as well as play video games, Stringer said.

The cost of the Xbox 360 Pro model will drop $50 to $299, The Wall Street Journal said last week. The device comes with a 20-gigabyte hard drive, the newspaper said.

Toysrus.com listed a PlayStation 3 with a 40-gigabyte hard drive and a copy of the movie "Spider-Man 3 for $399.99 and the Nintendo Wii for $339.96, including a three-game pack. The Wii's suggested retail price remains $249.99 on a stand-alone basis.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., fell 20 cents to close at $25.25 Friday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have fallen 29 percent this year. Tokyo-based Sony's American depositary receipts dropped 71 cents to $40.46 and have fallen 25 percent.