Nintendo Co Ltd has failed to win any advantage by pricing its Nintendo 64 at only $250 in the US, because Sega of America Inc has followed Sony Corp by cutting the price of its flagship games machine. Both the Sega Saturn and the Sony Playstation now cost $200. It may be that the lower prices are also needed to enable the consoles to compete with rapidly improving home computers for games-playing. Sega has also added the $200 Sega Saturn Net Link, saying the 28.8Kbps modem and browser makes Saturn the first and only next-generation games system that will offer Internet access. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc is hoping the Playstation price cut to $200 will increase sales in the US to 2million in the current fiscal year. The Playstation now commands 72% of the US market according to Sony, which has shipped 5m Playstation systems, including 1.2m in the US, where Saturn has sold some 500,000. The three Japanese companies slugging it out with price cuts like this raise interesting questions about dumping: Sony Corp has cut the US PlayStation price to $200, the UK price the equivalent of $300 and it still charges the equivalent of $280 in Japan, which on one definition of dumping means that it is dumping in the US.
