Yannis

Sony's PS3 game console delayed

Sony Corp. said Wednesday it would delay the release of its new PlayStation 3 video game console until early November because development of some of the technology was behind schedule.

The company, which currently dominates the game console market with a market share of about 70 percent, said it planned to launch the much-anticipated PlayStation 3 (PS3) almost simultaneously in Japan, North America and Europe in time for the key holiday season.

"When we initially announced our plans to launch this spring, we had expected the standardization work on all of the technologies to be completed by last August, but there were improvements that were decided on since then," said Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony's game division.

"We wanted to be sure to include all future technologies that are available now," he said at a business briefing for software developers as he apologized for not updating the industry sooner.

The PS3 launch date has been the subject of heavy speculation in the industry as expectations are high for the machine, which will have cutting-edge technology and is expected to enable users to play games and movies as well as download videos from the Internet.

A six-month delay in the launch date could mean handing further advantage to rival Microsoft Corp. (Research), which launched its competing Xbox 360 console last November.

Sony (Research) is now also likely to go head-to head with Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s next-generation Revolution console, which is expected to hit markets around the same time.

Shares of Sony fell 1.8 percent Wednesday in Japan after media reports that the PS3 launch would be pushed back.

Negative but expected

"(The delay) is negative news, but it was expected," said Mitsubishi UFJ Securities analyst Hirotoshi Murakami.

"The launch date is before the Christmas shopping season, so it is avoiding the worst scenario," he said, adding that some analysts had speculated the PS3 would not hit the market until next year.

Toshiaki Nishimura, senior analyst at Yasuda Asset Management, said he believed the delay was likely to have a short-term impact on earnings.

"Because game sales are a big source of earnings for Sony...and because the release is being pushed back by half a year, this is likely to drag earnings in the first half of next year below the market consensus," Nishimura said.

The market expects Sony to post an operating profit of ¥167.04 billion in the business year from April, according to a consensus estimate of 19 analysts compiled by Reuters Estimates.

KBC analyst Hiroshi Kamide said the delay of the PS3 also bodes ill for Japanese software developers, many of whom rely on PlayStation's popularity to drive revenues.

"There's nothing in the first half of the year, and the install base in the second half will be so small it will have no material impact for earnings at all," he said. "This is going to be a horrendous year."

Kutaragi blamed the delay on the belated finalization of the copy protection technology standard for the Blu-ray Disc drive, a next-generation DVD player that will be included in the PS3.

The standardization of digital audio and video technology to connect electronics devices was also late, he said.

Kutaragi said Sony planned to produce 1 million PS3 units a month initially, for a total of 6 million units in the business year ending March 2007.

"This may not seem like much, but it's more than the initial capacity for PlayStation 2," Kutaragi said, adding that near-final tool kits to develop games would be available to software makers by mid-May.

Analysts expect the PS3 to cost about $500 with an initial line-up of at least five to 10 games.[/color]

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Alx

no surprise here.

bum-man

I bet Microsoft has a big smile on their face right now. Sony is going to end up in the same condition Microsoft was at that time of the year in 05'. There will definitely be a sortage of PS3 consoles this year. Especially when they are trying to launch in it's biggest markets simultaneously; and you guys know where holiday shoppers will turn to when when they can't get a hold of the PlayStation.

The Artist

this is good news for sweden.. cause it was supposed to come even later here..so im happy.. hihi..cant wait

Yannis

Now they are saying November but i 'm sure that there won't be enough consoles to cover the market by the end of the year so expect even later.

I bet XBox 360 will be the winner of the fight this time.

Centurion

Hmm I read this a couple of hour ago and I'm not suprised at all, there was allready some specualtion going on about Sony not being finished with the PS3.

November is far away and a world wide launch makes lots of people smile. But is such a launch really a great idea? No it isn't. There is no way on earth that Sony will be able to feed a couple millions of hungry PS3 fans at the sametime
. It all will end up like it did for MS and the Xbox 360. High demand but low supply. Therefor if you want to buy an PS3 as a christmas gift for you family you better book one right now becasue the chances are that from nov-jan 2007 people will only be able to get their hands on one by being on booking lists.

Additionally I would advise you to start saving money today. Sony has announced that the minimum price for the PS3 will be $426 which isn't cheap at all and will probably not include(we know how cheap sony is) a 60GB HDD. That means that a good starter PS3 starter kit will set you back atleast $655. Let me break it down for you.

PS3: $425
60GB HDD: $100(my prediction)
An additional controll(wireless off course): $60(my prediction)
One game: $70

Total: $655(bare in mind that this is just the price assuming that a HD-cable is included and that the PS3 online service is for free.

IMO that's not cheap at all and MS might decided to slap Sony in the face with a $50 xbox 360 price cut. That's nothing compared to if MS decide to launch Halo3 just a couple of days before the PS3 launch. When they launched Halo2 it sold on the release day for more than 220 million dollars which is the recrod beating movies like Titanic, PS2 launch and any other entertainment launch. In that way things are looking pretty dark for Sony. They better be hit us with some very good launch titles, otherwise it won't sell well at all, especially since MS in november will already have lots of 360 titles out in the stores.

You should also remember that they are PLANNING on releasing the PS3 in November which means that the launch can be delayed but I'm sure they will try to squeeze it out before the christmas rush.

Let the next-gen console war being.

klier

I am 85% sure they will loose again to the Playstation brand....in as big a way as PS2 beat Xbox. Sony is planning this all very carefully, and MS should be very worried for what's coming

Centurion

The PS2 bet the Xbox becasue of the fact that it has been out long before the Xbox idea even became public. Still with Xbox MS did steal a huge piece of the console market from Sony and Nintendo. With the 360 MS is the one who is one step ahead and therefor I'm not so sure that Sony will win this time.

bum-man

Oh, Sony will win out again. I just don't think it will be as menacing as the kung-fu death grip it had previously in the video game market. Today Playstation is a household name, everyone knows it...And if Sony can make a piece of trash sell a la PS2, then they shouldn't have a problem taking the title once again. I just think that it wont be as bad a beat down as before, which, if happens is good for everyone really. It's just a shame XBOX Japan is such a joke and that Nintendo doesn't have the 3rd party support it needs.

The Artist

SOny will win.. everyone i know will get it.. (everyone remotly interested in gaming)