PSP retools in bold first-place bid; Sony turns to price cuts, high-octane marketing to grab hand-held share.

Advertising Age, May, 2007 by BULIK, BETH SNYDER

Byline: BETH SNYDER BULIK

bbulik@adage.com

With some deft strategy strokes-a dramatic price drop, a new target demographic, broader content and aggressive marketing-Sony is angling for the dominant share that's eluded it since the PSP hand-held bowed two years ago.

In April, it cut the price to $169, and the drop to a sub-iPod price is attracting attention. "It's a price-sensitive market, and if you cross the right price point, you can really explode sales,'' said Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group.

John Koller, senior marketing manager for PSP, said April sales numbers at the lowered price should reflect a "significant'' uptick. NPD Group data put PSP sales in March at 180,000 vs. 508,000 for Nintendo DS.

Another big change...

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