Sony President: no plans for another PS3 price cut

By Ritsuko Shimizu

OYAMA, Japan (Reuters) - Sony Corp. (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) currently has no plans for a further price cut to its PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console following a $100 cut in the U.S., the electronics conglomerate's president said on Friday.

"We've announced the price cut in the U.S and have no additional plans beyond that at this time," Ryoji Chubachi told Reuters on the sidelines of a gathering of business executives in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan.

The price cut, announced earlier this month, had confused some industry watchers because it came just a few days after Chubachi told Reuters in an interview that the company had no immediate plans to lower the PS3 price.

Sony's PlayStation 3 has been far outsold by rival Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Wii console in large part because of its lofty price. Even after the $100 cut, the PS3 at $499 is twice as expensive as the Wii.

Sony announced on Thursday that it sold 710,000 units of the PS3 in the April-June quarter, less than a fourth of 3.43 million Wii consoles sold in the same period.

Some analysts have said the $100 cut would not be enough to counter the momentum of the Wii and predicted that Sony would have to lower the price again in the near future.

Sony's stock was up 0.6 percent at 6,390 yen in early afternoon trade, bucking a sharp fall in the broader market.

Investors are buying Sony after the company announced on Thursday that its quarterly profit more than trebled on the back of strong digital camera sales and a softer yen, which far outstripped losses on the struggling PlayStation 3.