• news
  • FRIDAY JANUARY 20 2006 5:00 AM

Is Sony Blowing The Console Wars?

Submitted by jake_lex

Edited by Shal

More and more people are raising doubts about the ultimate success of the Playstation 3 amid reports of a delayed launch and high price for the unit. The PS3 was promised for "Spring 2006", but now it looks like an actual release date will be closer to November -- a full year after the launch of the XBox 360.



If the PS3 does launch in November, Sony will have given Microsoft a full year's worth of potential sales of its next-generation console, the Xbox 360. "Microsoft's lead time in building share for this console generation is real," says NPD Group's Anita Frazier. "The longer that lead time is, the greater the initial risk for Sony."

Then there's the worry that there won't be enough PS3s to go around when the machine finally does launch. Gamers had these fears realized the last time around, when only 600,000 of them got their hands on an Xbox 360 during the last two months of 2005. "But that was the most restricted launch supply of any major console platform," says Frazier.

Other analysts have estimated that Sony could launch about a million PS3s before 2006 is over — but that's the same number of units that were shipped by Sony during the launch of the PS2, and if a million units wasn't nearly enough in November 2000, it won't be enough in 2006 either.



And then there's the price. While the original price for the XBox was $300 for the system and $400 for a package that included several extra items, the PS3 might end up costing $500 at launch -- and that will still be at a substantial loss to Sony. The culprit for the price is Sony's insistence on using the new Blu-Ray HD DVD system in the units.



But Sony's use of the Blu-Ray disc drive means even more is at stake for the company — Nintendo and Microsoft aren't including a high-definition player in their consoles (though Microsoft will offer an optional HD-DVD drive for sale before the year's end). The PS3 will cost Sony more to make, but the payoff in the future could be worth it.

Even the cheapest new Blu-Ray DVD players will retail for about $1,000. David Carey, president of electronics-component specialist firm Portelligent, says the Blu-Ray drive could add about $100 to the cost of owning a PS3.

Other components will drive up the cost of the PS3, Carey says. Based on his estimate that Microsoft loses about $100 for every Xbox 360 sold, he projects that Sony could see a $200 deficit per set-top box. That means consumers will pay $200 less than the cost of goods.



Add to that the fact that by that time, Microsoft will have many more titles for the XBox 360 on the street, which is where that deficit in the price of the hardware is made up. And they may be able to further slash the price of the XBox 360 by next Christmas: a XBox 360 for half the price of the Playstation 3, perhaps?

Sony has become completely silent on the PS3, down to not having any news on it at all at the CES. Between their well-documented DRM debacle, and the system that's supposed to continue their dominance of the console market and give Blu-Ray a major foothold in the American market slipping to a date that will put it at least a year behind its competition, you have to wonder what the suits at Sony are doing.

  • PERMALINK
  • PRINT
  • Digg This
  • Email To A Friend
 

Previous

PAGE: 

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Next

Comments
xmomx

xmomx

Poulsbo, WA
January 2003

JAN 20, 2006 05:18 AM

And I still can't got to the store and buy either one!
Arggh!
mad

Oren

Oren

United Kingdom
January 2006

JAN 20, 2006 05:55 AM



David Carey, president of electronics-component specialist firm Portelligent, says the Blu-Ray drive could add about $100 to the cost of owning a PS3.



Nooo! Please, no!

I must own a Nintendo Revolution and a PS3 when both come out (though I retain my hatred of the xbox).

My poor credit card! wink

Sketchy_MF

Sketchy_MF

Portland, OR
June 2005

JAN 20, 2006 06:18 AM

Inamourada_Flux said:

I must own a Nintendo Revolution and a PS3 when both come out (though I retain my hatred of the xbox).



Why do you hate X-Box? I've had loads of fun playing Halo 2, Burnout Revenge and StarWars Battlefront II on X-Box Live. I love Nintendo, too, and am looking forward to the PS3; however X-Box has the best online experience, by far.

Chriztian

Chriztian

Tallahassee, FL
September 2004

JAN 20, 2006 07:07 AM

This article is kinda odd, I'd heard something similar about when (for North America at least) but not about supply. The article says, there should be 1 million available at launch, as a lower estimate, as opposed to just under 300,000 360's shipped in the first two weeks. Then again, this was from Pioneer, who is behind the Blue-Ray technology, of course they're hopeful for a massive launch, so who knows? Personally, the longer they wait, they happier my budget will be for it.
Here's the article

MistressMissy

mistressmissy

Grand Rapids, MI
March 2003

JAN 20, 2006 07:10 AM

i'd much rather play burnout revenge on my ps2.

Oren

Oren

United Kingdom
January 2006

JAN 20, 2006 07:11 AM

It's ugly, it's Microsoft, and the exclusive games for it aren't exactly the squirrel's nuts. (With the exeption of Halo).
Plus I was always a Nintendo fanatic, and when Rare decided to piss off to Microsoft I was not amused.

baudot

baudot

Oakland, CA
February 2004

JAN 20, 2006 07:49 AM

Point 1: Delayed launch.
No, this makes sense. Many in the game industry would argue that shortly before christmas is the only reasonable time to launch a new major product.

Point 2: Limited supply
Is this concern based on anything, or just that it sometimes happened in the past? "Consoles sometimes are released in short supply! Therefore Sony may release their console in short supply! Sony is blowing it!"

Point 3: Going with an unpoopular DVD format
This one might hold water. I'm not hopeful for the blu-ray, with the negative buzz it's starting to accumulate.

theseeman

theseeman

Asheville, NC
December 2002

JAN 20, 2006 08:08 AM

I had not seen spring 2006 as a possible release date. I don't think that matters. Instead of one console people may buy both. If sony wants it in there so bad they must be doing some really awesome things with it.

This is a year of buzz and speculation to build twoard release. all microsoft will have is a blu ray unit. When you consider not only the ps3 exclusives but the ports from other platforms I don't think Sony is going to have a problem with titles.

So big woop. Especially for PC users. Empire at War anyone?

Seth0067

Seth0067

Glendale, CA
August 2002

JAN 20, 2006 08:17 AM

and this article doesnt even go into what the developers think of the PS3. November, hell. My call is no PS3 until 2007.

PatrickY

PatrickY

Vancouver, WA
December 2003

JAN 20, 2006 08:41 AM



Point 1: Delayed launch.
No, this makes sense. Many in the game industry would argue that shortly before christmas is the only reasonable time to launch a new major product.



And those people would be wrong. Come Christmas time, there's massive competition for every dollar, and a new console has to compete against not just existing consoles, but new stereos, Ipods, computers, DVD players, TVs, toys, clothes, and a million other items. Drop a system a handful of months before that, in the relative dead zone of early summer, and you find people holding a lot more disposable income. New consoles are getting more and more expensive, and thinking "Christmas only" isn't doing the consumer, or the manufacturers any favors.


This is a year of buzz and speculation to build twoard release. all microsoft will have is a blu ray unit.



And a year's worth of new games releases, and a true second generation of games for their console, and a well entrenched base of gamers they've had a full year to entrench firmly in their product, and a full year in which to develop X-Box Live content, and a serious opportunity to undercut the price of a competitor who absolutely cannot do the same.

midnight8x

midnight8x

Leominster, MA
May 2005

JAN 20, 2006 08:42 AM

watching the E3 videos of the Playstation 3 in action, they can take as much time as they want. It blows away the Xbox 360. If it weren't for Halo (which is basically the game Tribes without flying) the Xbox would be nothing. I didn't buy an Xbox 360 cuz I have the same exact graphics on my PC. For PS3 though, watching the videos on it I can't make a PC to even come close to it's engine.

EndedBen

EndedBen

Grand Rapids, MI
August 2004

JAN 20, 2006 08:47 AM

It depends on what Xbox has in store for game releases around that time. Halo 3 or something of equal OMG might really knock the wind out of Sony's sails. Anyone have numbers on how well 360 is selling in Japan? If they don't break ground in the asian markets there's really no question about it, Sony will still be number one.

fiendish

fiendish

USA
December 2002

JAN 20, 2006 08:49 AM

sony is crazy and unrealistic.

it's like they are building the best thing thing ever and not thinking about actually selling it.
im thinking neo geo, 3d0, cd-1, turbo express, psp, ps2, ps1.

is it true the ceo (some-one important) of sony was recently replaced?

JimmyKitty

JimmyKitty

Oakland, CA
January 2006

JAN 20, 2006 08:58 AM

I could care less about "Console wars"...

I'm more interested in "Developer wars".

Even today developers have not fully tapped the potential of the current consoles. I'm sick of buying games that are below standard of another games I bought a year ago. It's like developers are getting a free ride and the console takes all the heat for why it wasn't "so good" .

I don't care if the console costs 10 bucks, or 500 bucks. If the games don't live up to potential (and not just more rehash sequels) then what's the point?

I'll take Sony and Nintendo, please. But that's because I want to play import games, too. But I don't hate X-box, and I admit the one-year advance will play in their favor.

Dizzy

Dizzy

Los Angeles, CA
January 2004

JAN 20, 2006 08:58 AM

SuperNintendo said:
It depends on what Xbox has in store for game releases around that time. Halo 3 or something of equal OMG might really knock the wind out of Sony's sails. Anyone have numbers on how well 360 is selling in Japan? If they don't break ground in the asian markets there's really no question about it, Sony will still be number one.




I don't have actual updated numbers, but it's not doing great i'd say.
Upon release, "less than half of the estimated 159,000 consoles that were available in stores in Japan have sold, a survey finds."

a quote unrelated article.
gamespot

[Edited on Jan 20, 2006 by Dizzy]

Previous

PAGE: 

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Next

featured interviews