Hope Fades for PS3 as a Comeback Player -- In Battle of the Game Consoles, Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox Widen Leads Over Sony's PlayStation
AirRaid
In Battle of the Game Consoles, Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox Widen
Leads Over Sony's PlayStation
TOKYO -- For most of this year, Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 videogame
console seemed finally to be taking off after a slow start. The PS3,
trailing Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 consoles,
was closing in on the No. 2 Xbox 360, with new games and quarterly
sales growth at twice the speed of last year.
But early results from this holiday season aren't promising. U.S.
sales of the PS3 fell 19% last month from a year earlier, while sales
doubled for the Wii console and rose 8% for the Xbox 360, according to
research firm NPD. Analysts say they expect PS3 sales for this month
to be flat or lower than last year, while sales for its rivals are
likely to rise. And Sony may not reach its goal of selling 10 million
PS3 consoles in the fiscal year through March, analysts say.
The sales decline is a heavy blow to Sony, which was banking on the
videogame division to provide a bright spot as its core electronics
business is hit by the global economic downturn. Sony in May forecast
that its games division would turn a profit this fiscal year after two
years of losses since launching the PS3 in 2006. Meanwhile, poor sales
of television sets and digital cameras are forcing the company to lay
off thousands of staff and close factories.
Sony's strategy of selling a pricey game machine with advanced
features and cutting-edge components appears to be backfiring as a
deepening recession has U.S. consumers more price sensitive than ever.
If Sony doesn't close the gap with its rivals, it could risk making
the PS3 an afterthought to game publishers, who focus most of their
resources on the machines with the most users. At the end of
September, the Wii had a wide lead with nearly 35 million units sold
since its launch in 2006 compared with about 22 million Xbox 360
consoles and 17 million PS3 machines. Nintendo last month sold 2
million Wii machines in the U.S., while Microsoft sold 836,000 Xbox
360s and Sony sold 378,000 PS3s, according to NPD.
Sony said earlier this month that it was happy with the "strong
momentum" of the PS3 and focused on the machine's 60% rise in the year-
to-date sales. A spokesman at Sony's game division declined to comment
further, saying it is working hard to close the quarter strong.
A key factor behind the decline in sales may be the PS3's high price.
At $399, the entry-level PS3 model costs at least $150 more than the
Wii or the least expensive Xbox 360. Sony emphasizes that the PS3
comes with a Blu-ray high-definition video player and an 80-gigabyte
hard drive, features not available with the Wii or Xbox 360.
Microsoft cut Xbox 360 prices in early September and started bundling
games with the most basic console for $199. Nintendo has maintained
the Wii's initial $249 price, but sales are rising now that it has
overcome an early supply shortage.
Part of Sony's strategy hinged on selling the PS3 as a relatively
inexpensive Blu-ray player. But prices of Blu-ray players have fallen
so sharply recently -- new players are available for less than $200 --
that it's possible to buy a Blu-ray player and an Xbox 360 for less
than a PS3. Meanwhile, the economic downturn has cooled sales of flat-
screen TV sets and Blu-ray players this holiday season.
Industry watchers say they were surprised Sony didn't cut PS3 prices
to boost sales before the holidays. One reason may be Sony Chief
Executive Howard Stringer's commitment to making the games division
profitable after heavy investment in the PS3 machine. Console makers
hope to eventually recoup development investment with game sales and
production cost reductions. Sony is still losing money on every PS3 it
sells at $399, so a price cut could push the games division back into
the red, analysts say.
"With Stringer saying, 'We will be profitable,' you can't cut price,"
says Michael Pachter, a research analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities
in Los Angeles. He expects Sony to cut prices at the start of its new
fiscal year in April, which could help boost sales.
Sony also is suffering from a lack of attractive titles that are
exclusive to the PS3. Microsoft has hit the jackpot with two action-
adventure game franchises, Halo and Gears of War, which are available
only on the Xbox 360. Most of Nintendo's top games are made in house
and playable only on the Wii.
Sony used to have a stable of exclusive games. But in recent years,
Microsoft has persuaded most game publishers to release highly
anticipated games to it and Sony at the same time.
Last month, four of the five best-selling U.S. games were exclusive to
either the Wii or Xbox 360, according to NPD. Sony's best-selling game
during the month was an action shooter game, Call of Duty: World at
War from Activision Blizzard Inc. But twice as many people bought the
Xbox 360 version.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123050978162738293.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Jonah Falcon
"AirRaid" <airr...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a76cb0b9-e47e-4e08...@w24g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
The alMIGHTY N
> http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MK-AT648_SONY_NS_20081228215...
>
> In Battle of the Game Consoles, Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox Widen
> Leads Over Sony's PlayStation
<snip>
I find the new articles about how the PSP is on the brink of death
more interesting since those death knells are much more believable.
PSP software has been pretty crappy for the most part over the past
year or two and there are already talks of a drastic change to the
system sometime in 2009 (even more of a change than the Nintendo DSi).
While I don't think Sony will pull out of the console business anytime
soon, they have to be at least reconsidering this whole portable thing.
Rich Hutnik
VGChartz (ok, not exactly the most reliable), has the PSP at over 40
million sold. Why is Sony going to pull out?
There had been at least one article on Yahoo which spoke about the PSP
being irrelevant.
- Rich
Jonah Falcon
one-console market, and that includes the handheld market. Unless Microsoft,
Sega or Apple start making a dedicated handheld console... (And no, the
iPhone doesn't count.)
felonio...@aol.com
> http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MK-AT648_SONY_NS_20081228215...
>
> Leads Over Sony's PlayStation
>
> TOKYO -- For most of this year, Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 videogame
> console seemed finally to be taking off after a slow start. The PS3,
> trailing Nintendo Co.'s Wii and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 consoles,
> was closing in on the No. 2 Xbox 360, with new games and quarterly
> sales growth at twice the speed of last year.
>
> But early results from this holiday season aren't promising. U.S.
> sales of the PS3 fell 19% last month from a year earlier, while sales
> doubled for the Wii console and rose 8% for the Xbox 360,
The 360 is getting destroyed by the Wii. Ouch!
> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123050978162738293.html?mod=googlenew...
Blig Merk
see, or even acknowledge the largest global downturn since the Great
Depression in 1929? This is the same Wall Street Journal that *FAILED*
to predict, warn, see or even acknowledge the Madoff and his $50
Billion Ponzi scheme that is now and still toppling global financial
institutions and contributed to the entire government of Belgium to
collapse?
And now, they are all of a sudden going to become great videogame
prognosticators, without even knowing how to or actually playing
videogames? You xflop fanbitches are so pitifully funny with your pre-
occupation with supposed financial fortune tellers like Michael
Pachter, who happens to have the same track record as flipping a coin
with his "predictions". The glaring fact about this regurgitated news
about the November NPD sales is that the PS3 held its own at its
pricepoint, Wii sales went crazy, and the xflop 3-shitty only managed
very small gains while being priced lower than the Wii.
Not only that, what if both Sony and Microsoft leave the videogame
console market and leave it to the "winner", the Wii and Nintendo?
Will you feel you have somehow won then?
pablo
"Jonah Falcon" <jonah...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:uPudneUM2-39wMfU...@earthlink.com...
> You're 24 hours late. Already posted.
Why do you feel the need to do this every time someone posts
the same info as you? Is it because you are worried that they
are stealing your glory? Or do you just like to make sure there
are at least two posts that are meaningless in every thread? Why
do you care so much? Why do I bother asking?
Tom
"Blig Merk" <blig...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:beabe177-727c-4942...@i24g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
So, a 20% decline in sales for the PS3 from November of 2007 to November of
2008 is "holding its own"?
I am hoping that when KZII and GOWIII cone out, that PS3 sales will rise
again, along with a price drop. But, if their sales range the same after
those releases, then something may really be wrong.