Will Sony keep afloat in 2007?
Although it's been predicted that Sony Corp. (NYSE:SNE) would have to lower the price of its new PlayStation3 game console to reap the benefit of mass adoption, the company may have to do that way before it was ever planned.
True, technically, the Sony PlayStation 3 is quite a bit ahead of the Nintendo Wii and possibly even ahead of the Microsoft Xbox 360 (debate rages on here). But Sony can't rest on as an excuse that all but a few extremely avid gaming fans are going to care. The processor, graphics, pixel shading and other technical benefits are lost on most of the gaming audience who would rather feel an immersive gaming experience in totality -- not a few more millions of polygons being drawn a second. And yet it seems that Sony is placing its future the entire company's turnaround from a disastrous past few years in the hands of the tiny minority who do care about the technical features.
Case in point here -- the Nintendo Wii (half the price of the PlayStation 3) is outselling Sony's unit 4-to-1 and even a 5-to-1 in some countries, including the U.S. and Japan. Most likely, this is due to Nintendo's capability to price the unit at the correct mass adoption price point -- $250 -- while delivering an experience that is good as or better than Sony's (not just graphics, but total experience).
There will be some who argue about Sony's high price killing its early sales -- and there's quite a bit to that too -- but can Sony even afford to drop the price in 2007? I hope Sony's future doesn't rely on that or SNE investors may see a partial Titanic scenario coming.
Via Bgs
True, technically, the Sony PlayStation 3 is quite a bit ahead of the Nintendo Wii and possibly even ahead of the Microsoft Xbox 360 (debate rages on here). But Sony can't rest on as an excuse that all but a few extremely avid gaming fans are going to care. The processor, graphics, pixel shading and other technical benefits are lost on most of the gaming audience who would rather feel an immersive gaming experience in totality -- not a few more millions of polygons being drawn a second. And yet it seems that Sony is placing its future the entire company's turnaround from a disastrous past few years in the hands of the tiny minority who do care about the technical features.
Case in point here -- the Nintendo Wii (half the price of the PlayStation 3) is outselling Sony's unit 4-to-1 and even a 5-to-1 in some countries, including the U.S. and Japan. Most likely, this is due to Nintendo's capability to price the unit at the correct mass adoption price point -- $250 -- while delivering an experience that is good as or better than Sony's (not just graphics, but total experience).
There will be some who argue about Sony's high price killing its early sales -- and there's quite a bit to that too -- but can Sony even afford to drop the price in 2007? I hope Sony's future doesn't rely on that or SNE investors may see a partial Titanic scenario coming.
Via Bgs
posted by auto at 10:42 AM
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