What do you think Sony should do?
I mean first we have to consider Sony is a worldwide company, like MS, and they have their #1 lead solidified on that perspective. That's not changing.
But in terms of what Sony has to do strategically in the US, I think first is not to overreact. They still sold a considerable amount of units at a much higher price, so their margins at that price are going to be better. So they can stand to sell a few hundred thou less and still make comparably decent profits.
So first is wait until end of December NPD, and assess the landscape. What was your week-on-week average? Did Xbox One shows signs of real decline after the initial glow of the $349/$329BF deals wore off? Does it suggest the month-to-month sales rate will return to roughly equivalent levels as they were prior to Holidays, or will it mean XBO can actually win on a monthly off-holiday basis?
If it means the ladder, then I believe they will have a price drop to $349.99 by July 2015, which Black Friday deals including a game or two. They'll have their own bounce during that time. It's uncertain whether they will be able to return the sizable gap Microsoft took back during this year, though, in terms of the US territory.
The other thing they need to is ensure their products release in a timely fashion and without issues. I do believe the early disparity between seeing the network failures on Driveclub vs. smooth launch of Forza Horizon 2 - independent of each's actual performance - painted a sort of PS4 incompetence picture that played at least a small role in motivating people toward XBO. So, they need to be on the ball with their product releases, and ensure they come out in a polished state. Driveclub now with the updates is one of the best racing games of all time, but now few will ever acknowledge it due to its atrocious launch.
They've been botching Order marketing, but that's their first chance to really start a trend back toward PS4, since they have an insane 2015 lineup. It's going to be the games that can help PS4 regain its dominant footing, that coupled with 2015's strategic price cut. Sony can't be stingy with the price cuts this go around, they gotta be on the ball
