What part of my suggestion that it may be premature to conclude that, based on a single quarter, Sony is finally back on the right track did you not understand?
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/...2555_db039.htm

Does cutting jobs, closing factories, "restructuring," and trying to improve upon negative/very low profit margins sound like the plans of a company with no financial problems? No. Sony has long had financial problems and a less than rosy outlook. The results from last quarter look good, and they may very well be back on the right track. However, it is too early to tell for the long-term. I doubt very much whether Mr. Stringer's long-term plan for turning things around includes taking a $500 loss for every PS3 sold. What this means I don't know. It could mean a) the PS3 doesn't cost $900 to make, b) the retail price will be more than $399, c) Sony will delay launch to try to wait for manufacturing costs down a bit, d) Sony will scale down the final system in some way, or e) Sony is going to just accept a $500 per unit loss and accept that it is going to drag their profit margins down even further.

Come on guys, this thread is for info about the PS3, not pissing matches about Sony's financial status.

A $900 Console would be suicide for the PS3. Sony has to take the financial hit on the ps3 or it will fail (along with the chance to get Blu Ray into all every game owners home).

Sony wouldn't sell it for $900 even if that is the manufacturing cost. Every console in recent history has been sold at a loss. Microsoft is reportedly losing about $150 per Xbox 360 sold. The question is how much of a loss can Sony afford to take? As described above, I don't believe Sony can afford to lose $500 per PS3 to come in at the $399 price point. I don't believe any company could for that matter. The implication is that a) that is not an accurate cost figure, b) the PS3 will indeed be at least $599, or c) Sony will delay in hopes of improving costs.

Yes. Sony is in such bad financial shape that their stock has risen 60% over the past 6 months, while the NASDAQ has had a 7% increase in the same time. Profits are profits, no matter how they are gained. I was wondering why you thought they were in financial trouble, and now I'm pretty sure I know why.

Oh, do tell. Also, since you seem to know more about Sony's great shape than its own Chairman, who has been working very hard to try to get Sony back to where it needs to be, maybe you should tell him that he is wrong?

I am not disputing that Sony is in better shape in the last few months than it has been in a few years. However, clearly it is still in the early stages of Mr. Stringer's "restructuring" plan, which does seem to be working well so far. If you are confident enough to think that in such a short time it has solved all of Sony's problems such that this success will continue even if they choose to take a $500 loss per PS3 then, well, you are an optimist. One way or another, they will not end up taking that huge of a loss. The real question is how they will manage to do that.

BTW, you are putting words in my mouth with "such bad financial shape." I never said they were in bad financial shape just that they have had some financial problems such that it is unrealistic to think they can take a $500 per unit loss. They aren't on the verge of bankruptcy, but they haven't been doing particularly well either until recently. I doubt they want to risk putting a halt to their progress by eating $500 per unit.

Analysts are generally not very good at determining the cost of components. I wouldn't put much weight in that $900 figure.

I'll give my predictions for the PS3 though.

It will go on sale in August '06 in Japan and March '07 in the US. Retail price will be $499.

I wouldn't either. Who knows if $900 is right, but that is the only estimate I have seen so far. If it is even close to being right, then that makes things very interesting.

Hey Guys, this is a PS3 thread...not the general status of Sony as a whole. Let's get this back on topic or we're going to have to close yet another PS3 thread.

Thank you.
L&O
Moderator VG Forum

Possible PS3 controller picture:

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/02/18/so...s3-controller/

I seriously hope they change the controller, or at least let it support USB controllers from a system I won't name. ;)

The consensus is that the picture is fake, and I agree. The buttons etc. are too flat, and the circumstances of the picture just aren't convincing (low quality, apparently taken in someone's bedroom, etc.). Sony has stated that there is no final PS3 controller design yet and that they will NOT be using the boomerang design that has been shown thus far. Given the criticism of that design, that is a good thing.

looks like the guy took the picture in his bedroom, most likely not real.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060220/...playstation_dc

Sony aims for spring launch of PS3 but could delay

By Yukari Iwatani Kane
51 minutes ago

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). said on Monday it still aims to launch its next-generation PlayStation 3 video game console this spring, but it could be delayed if industry specifications for some of its technology are not finalised soon.

The launch of Playstation 3 (PS3) has been the subject of heavy speculation in the industry as expectations are high for the powerful machine, which will feature cutting-edge technology in its DVD, processors and graphics.

PS3 will be competing with Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, which went on sale last November, and Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Revolution, which is expected later this year.

"We're aiming for spring, but we haven't announced specific regions," a spokeswoman for Sony Computer Entertainment said, adding that it was waiting for the final specifications on some of the technology it is using in the PS3, such as that related to the Blu-ray drive and to input and output video and sound.

The specifications are decided by industry consortiums.

"We're waiting for them until the last possible minute, but the launch could be pushed back if they're not decided soon," the spokeswoman said. If the PS3 is not ready in time, the company will choose the next best timing for the launch, she said.

The company's shares fell as much as 4.4 percent on Monday after Merrill Lynch said in a research note last week that the PS3's launch might be delayed by six to 12 months and the cost of materials could initially approach $900 per unit.

The shares were down 2.9 percent at 5,340 yen in afternoon trade, underperforming the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index IELEC, which fell 1.21 percent.

Merrill Lynch also downgraded its rating on Sony to "sell" from "neutral," saying in its note that Sony could see its earnings decline in the business year from April.

"If the launch is delayed, it will be beneficial in the short term, but will be negative from the standpoint of share price," said analyst Hitoshi Kuriyama in the note. "If it is on time, the PS3 will weigh on the company's profitability."

SPRING LAUNCH IS "UNREALISTIC"

Most analysts took the report in stride as they already expected Sony to launch the PS3 this summer in Japan, followed by a U.S. launch before the Thanksgiving holiday in last November. They expect a launch in Europe in early 2007.

"No one is seriously thinking a spring release is realistic any more," said Hiroshi Kamide, an analyst at KBC Securities. "If I were Sony, I wouldn't be that worried about releasing as soon as I possibly could."

Kamide said Sony may wait until it is fully prepared, especially after seeing slow initial sales of Microsoft's Xbox 360 even though it was launched in time for the holidays.

Having led the worldwide console gaming market for the last decade, Sony is counting on the new machine to dominate in all aspects of networked home entertainment -- games, movies, music and more.

Yuta Sakurai, a senior analyst at Nomura Securities, said the price of the PS3 to be more important than timing.

"I'm estimating about 50,000 yen ($420) as the price they have to sell it at," he said, adding that it would be difficult for consumers to spend any more than that.

"I don't think it matters when Sony launches in the U.S. as long as it's in time for Christmas," Sakurai said.

He expects Sony to try to launch the PS3 in Japan in early summer, in time for the big selling season when schools go on holiday in July.

Retail price estimates by analysts in Japan vary widely from about 40,000 yen to 300,000 yen, primarily because of all of the technology that is packed into the machine, which is expected to be the size of a mid-size laptop computer.

The PS3, which can be played simultaneously by up to seven people, will be powered by the "Cell" chip, which is significantly more powerful than Intel Corp.'s Pentium 4, the most common chip for today's PCs and existing game machine processors.

It will also feature a super-powerful graphics chip, a built-in Ethernet port for high-speed Internet access, and Blu-ray, a next-generation DVD format backed by Sony.

Analysts generally agree that Sony will do whatever it can to avoid missing the key year-end holiday season this year, but many believe it will be unable to make the PS3 in great volumes.

Game development for the PS3 is also seen being delayed because the technology specifications have not been finalised.

"Game makers are developing games according to their guesses on what the final specifications might be," said Takeshi Tajima, a BNP Paribas analyst.

($1=118.30 Yen)


Chris

We've got the Game Developer's Conference coming up in a month with Sony President Phil Harrison's Keynote PS3 address, so we may know by then if the console will be delayed.

With the XBOX 360 beiong outsold by the Gamecube in Japan, Sony can afford to wait as long as it wants! PS2 sold as much in 1 week (22K) as the 360 has sold year-to-date!

1. PSP - 24,977 [310,253] units
2. PlayStation 2 - 22,383 [217,840] units
3. Nintendo DS - 10,223 [351,803] units
4. GBA-SP - 5,405 [52,337] units
5. GB Micro - 2,934 [31,987] units
6. GameCube - 2,025 [30,577] units
7. Xbox 360 - 1,288 [22,658] units
8. GBA - 150 [1,477] units
9. Xbox - 54 [641] units

I don't see how the PS2 keeps selling so well, you would think everyone that wanted one would have bought one by now.

The US is a bigger market than Japan. Waiting too long in the US could be bad, but it probably won't matter in the long run.

Yeah, the push to compete against 360 has everything to do with US and Europe. Obviously in Japan, so far, the 360 is pretty much a non-factor. But in the end, Japan while certainly a major market, is third behind Europe and NA.

I suspect those numbers are misleading if you look at them that way (though they are certainly still indicative of the dominance of the PS2 in Japan). A lot of them are likely repeat buyers--either buying a PS2 for another room, buying a replacement for a defective PS2 (many launch-era PS2's have broken by now, as they have a pretty high failure rate), or buying the "new(er)" slim form factor PS2, etc. I doubt the number of actual installed households has changed much in the past year or two.

It is the best console of this past generation and Sony fully intends to sell them for at least 4 more years, as even the PS1 had a 10 year life. Don't be surprised when it sells well even after the PS3 is released.

Fixed.

I'm assuming you ment best-selling, right? I'm a big Sony guy and have already pre-ordered a PS3, but I'll be the first to admit seeing absolutely nothing about the hardware of the system that is superior to the xbox and little over the gamecube. It's the games that make me love the sytem and I think those prime games, as well as the heavy brand identification (as well as the early start and DVD playback features) that ensured the sytems success.

This is blatant lies. It's common knowledge that people in Japan eat PS2 systems.

Finally a man that speaks the truth ;)