Sony further cuts PS3 shipments

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-11-01 12:47am

WHILST ALSO FORCING import specialist Lik-Sang out of business, Sony has had time to revise the expected Japanese shipment figures for the PS3's launch.

Back in September Sony suggested shipment figures at 400,000 and 100,000 for the US and Japan respectively. Now a report from a Japanese newspaper, Nikkei Keizai Shimbun, states that Sony has been forced to reduce the Japanese allocation by a further 20 per cent, just 11 days before launch.

To put the 80,000 units in perspective, Sony shipped around 900,000 consoles in Japan, and 400,000 in the US, for the launch of the PS2.

Some are speculating that the drop is to satisfy the American market, at the expense of Sony's home territory. It seems Sony doesn't just dislike Europeans.

The report cites 'component shortages' as the cause of the shortage, the same problem that's been blamed for delaying the launch of the console in Europe until March 2007.

In related games console news, production costs for Microsoft's Xbox 360 video-game console have been falling faster than expected, the company disclosed last week - but consumers will have to wait for any price cutting by the Redmond based outfit.

In relation to the report, a Microsoft spokesman said that the company has "no plans to adjust the price of the Xbox 360 this year."

Even with the reduced costs, Microsoft is still making a loss on each console made. Whilst the PS3 is priced significantly higher and in such short supply, its doubtful Microsoft is in a rush to lose any further margin on the games device.

SyntaxVorlon · Post by **SyntaxVorlon** » 2006-11-01 12:56am

Watch the Wii come out, making a profit after three months.

atg · Post by **atg** » 2006-11-01 01:06am

Has anything actually gone right with the PS3?

Hawkwings · Post by **Hawkwings** » 2006-11-01 01:39am

um... it's backwards compatible?

It *is* still backwards compatible, right?

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-11-01 01:43am

SyntaxVorlon wrote:Watch the Wii come out, making a profit after three months.

It's easy to be profitable when you've got legions of rabid, irrational fanboys screaming for a system that's nothing but a souped-up GameCube with a gimmick controller.

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-11-01 01:58am

Hawkwings wrote:um... it's backwards compatible?

It *is* still backwards compatible, right?

Only if the PS3 you own is of the same REGION as the older region encoded titles...

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-11-01 01:58am

Hawkwings wrote:um... it's backwards compatible?

It *is* still backwards compatible, right?

Only if the PS3 you own is of the same REGION as the older region encoded titles... And when they say backwards compatible its what they mean its pure emulation - no fancy new anti-aliasing or anything like the 360 backwards compability it's going to be the same ugly as fucking sin graphics, but now it will be defiling your HDTV.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2006-11-01 02:28am

Nintendo is going to benefit in a huge way from this. Although I don't see their US fortunes increasing much from the Wii, in Japan the lack of a credible alternative will likely give them a tremendous boost this year.

Although I'm sure Microsoft would like to see a piece of Sony's lost sales go to them, I just don't see the X360 surging much in Japan anytime in the future. If there's one thing we've learned over the last five years it's that Japan doesn't want an American player in the market, no matter which rockstar RPG developers have signed on to it.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-11-01 04:15am

Vympel wrote:
SyntaxVorlon wrote:Watch the Wii come out, making a profit after three months.
It's easy to be profitable when you've got legions of rabid, irrational fanboys screaming for a system that's nothing but a souped-up GameCube with a gimmick controller.

Every Nintendo console has been profitable...except perhaps the Virtual Boy and the DD. They usually make a small profit on every console sold shortly after launch, because unlike certain other game companies, they have a competent financial department

Shogoki · Post by **Shogoki** » 2006-11-01 04:43am

Vympel wrote: It's easy to be profitable when you've got legions of rabid, irrational fanboys screaming for a system that's nothing but a souped-up GameCube with a gimmick controller.

Sony should be able to make a lot more profit then, they have even bigger legions of even more rabid, more irrational fanboys screaming even louder for a system that's nothing but a huge collection of mistakes put together, amounting to souped-up Xbox 360 (debatable) with a gimmick controller.

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-11-01 05:20am

Shogoki wrote: Sony should be able to make a lot more profit then, they have even bigger legions of even more rabid, more irrational fanboys screaming even louder for a system that's nothing but a huge collection of mistakes put together, amounting to souped-up Xbox 360 (debatable) with a gimmick controller.

The controller's a vanilla Dual Shock with a cheap ripoff of Nintendo's gyroscopic thingamabob, isn't it? That's not so gimmicky. They obviously couldnt' be arsed. Sony won't make a profit on their system. But I reckon they'll do alright on the games.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2006-11-01 06:30am

With the amount of capital they've sunk into the PS3, how is it possible Sony can pull this off without having some major financial problems? Games will still be pricey, and given their launch titles, I don't see many running to the stores to get those either. They've pretty much made a mediocre looking console with a crappy release line-up.

Tell me this two years ago, and I'd laugh at you. Now, I actually hate Sony.

Count Dooku · Post by **Count Dooku** » 2006-11-01 09:25am

Sony, and just about everyone else for that matter, has made a huge point about Resistance: Fall of Man being the best next-gen game; and Sony has stated several times that the 'next generation' of gaming doesn't start until they launch, but what good does any of that do anyone if only a tiny handful of people can actually find a PS3, let alone afford one!? I was really looking forward to the PS3 until E3, but now, I'll be perfectly content playing Gears of War (which looks absolutely stunning).

I know the PS3 has taken a lot of flack, but I hope one day it has some killer-apps that will make it worth the purchase.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-11-01 09:38am

Bounty wrote:
Vympel wrote:
SyntaxVorlon wrote:Watch the Wii come out, making a profit after three months.
It's easy to be profitable when you've got legions of rabid, irrational fanboys screaming for a system that's nothing but a souped-up GameCube with a gimmick controller.
Every Nintendo console has been profitable...except perhaps the Virtual Boy and the DD. They usually make a small profit on every console sold shortly after launch, because unlike certain other game companies, they have a competent financial department

Nintendo has this rule about not losing money on hardware, therfor they usually show profit alot earlier then MS or Sony do on their consoles.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-11-01 09:44am

Nintendo has this rule about not losing money on hardware, therfor they usually show profit alot earlier then MS or Sony do on their consoles.

Isn't the original Xbox still selling at a loss per console?

Not that that's a bad strategy, per se - if enough people buy your games you can recoup the costs, eventually. It's just that, if Sony is selling at a loss *and* to a small audience, I can't think of a way for them to recoup their costs.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-11-01 09:45am

Bounty wrote:
Nintendo has this rule about not losing money on hardware, therfor they usually show profit alot earlier then MS or Sony do on their consoles.
Isn't the original Xbox still selling at a loss per console?

Not that that's a bad strategy, per se - if enough people buy your games you can recoup the costs, eventually. It's just that, if Sony is selling at a loss *and* to a small audience, I can't think of a way for them to recoup their costs.

The Xbox was a loss per console. The xbox360 I think is less so.

The PS3 is a MASSIVE loss per console.

JLTucker · Post by **JLTucker** » 2006-11-01 09:49am

I now know which console I will be asking my parents to get me this Christmas.

salm · Post by **salm** » 2006-11-01 09:59am

Admiral Valdemar wrote: Tell me this two years ago, and I'd laugh at you. Now, I actually hate Sony.

Same here.
The problem is that i will have to get a PSIII sooner or later because MGS4 is going to come out.
Maybe i´ll just rent one lock myself up for three days and play it in one session and then give the damn thing back.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2006-11-01 10:15am

salm wrote:
Admiral Valdemar wrote: Tell me this two years ago, and I'd laugh at you. Now, I actually hate Sony.
Same here.
The problem is that i will have to get a PSIII sooner or later because MGS4 is going to come out.
Maybe i´ll just rent one lock myself up for three days and play it in one session and then give the damn thing back.

I doubt MGS4 is going to be a Sony exclusive. Just wait until they start porting it to other consoles.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2006-11-01 10:31am

Count Dooku wrote:Sony, and just about everyone else for that matter, has made a huge point about Resistance: Fall of Man being the best next-gen game;

That's because it's their only standout title at launch.

And all the gaming press (not the Sony fanboys in forums or marketroids) has basically been saying that Resistance is a good solid shooter with an interesting approach to story, lavish praise is not noticably being heaped on the title, and I suspect it's launch will, in any case, be overshadowed by Call of Duty 3.

The xbox360 I think is less so.

The PS3 is a MASSIVE loss per console.

The Xbox 360 is still quite a hit per unit. Enough for the Xbox division of Microsoft to post a $96 million loss for the quarter. That's actually an improvement, it's nearly half their usual quarterly loss. (company wide profits are still ten billion odd for the quarter, so they're not worried).

Sony Computer Entertainment lost $367 million for the quarter, due to the high price of the PS3 (Sony corp as a whole posted a profit of $14 million, down 94% from last year, having also gotten fucked over by hawking dodgy laptop batteries).

(Nintendo, by the way, posted a $450 million profit for the first half of the year. Largely due to the fact that everyone in the world (and their dog) has a DS, and they're currently occupying anything up to about 8 of the top ten sellers in Japan at any given time.)

Davis 51 · Post by **Davis 51** » 2006-11-01 11:29am

SyntaxVorlon wrote:Watch the Wii come out, making a profit after three months.

IIRC, it will be profitable immediately.

Out of the entire PS3 Launch Lineup, there's only about 1 or 2 games I would like to play. That, and MGS4.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-11-01 11:30am

Bounty wrote:
Nintendo has this rule about not losing money on hardware, therfor they usually show profit alot earlier then MS or Sony do on their consoles.
Isn't the original Xbox still selling at a loss per console?

Not that that's a bad strategy, per se - if enough people buy your games you can recoup the costs, eventually. It's just that, if Sony is selling at a loss *and* to a small audience, I can't think of a way for them to recoup their costs.

The XBox doesn't count as a viable strategy; Microsoft was dumping it to gain marketshare, not money. The XBox division has taken a $4 billion overall loss since the launch of the XBox, and that's after all the money made from games and Live.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-11-01 12:04pm

The XBox doesn't count as a viable strategy; Microsoft was dumping it to gain marketshare, not money.

But in the end, they did gain that marketshare in Europe and the US, thus ensuring future profits. It's a long-term strategy and a risky one, but it's still viable.

ETA: Then again, $4b is pretty steep...

Xisiqomelir · Post by **Xisiqomelir** » 2006-11-01 12:11pm

Bounty wrote:
Nintendo has this rule about not losing money on hardware, therfor they usually show profit alot earlier then MS or Sony do on their consoles.
Isn't the original Xbox still selling at a loss per console?

Not that that's a bad strategy, per se - if enough people buy your games you can recoup the costs, eventually.

At -$4 Billion, I don't think the O. Xbox is ever going to break even. Unless M$'s accountants attribute some hefty value to a 40%-of-NES install base.

Loner · Post by **Loner** » 2006-11-01 12:28pm

This should paint the picture of how everything will be on launch day.