Microsoft Corp chief executive Steve Ballmer expressed confidence yesterday in his company's two-pronged challenge to Sony in the pivotal markets for videogame consoles and next-generation DVDs.
Microsoft is banking on its new Xbox 360 gaming device and the high definition DVD format backed by Toshiba to counter rival Sony Corp's hugely popular PlayStation lineup as well as its development of an alternative DVD format called Blu-ray.
Ballmer, in Tokyo to mark Microsoft's 20th year of business in Japan, said he is "100 percent" sure the new Xbox will outsell its predecessor and said the HD DVD format is superior to Blu-ray because it is more easily integrated with personal computers.
"I know for sure, 100 percent, we will do much, much better in Japan than we did with Xbox I, but that wouldn't be too hard," Ballmer said, adding that demand also seemed strong in northern Europe, the US and Australia.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 videogame counsel debuts in North America next Tuesday and in Japan on Dec. 10, aiming to please hardcore gamers -- primarily young men who spend hours each week tethered to a videogame console.
Despite the popularity of gaming in Japan, Microsoft has not been able to overcome the home-court advantage of Tokyo-based Sony's PlayStation franchise.
As of September, Microsoft had sold 21.9 million of the first-generation Xbox machines globally since introducing it three years ago, but only about 1.8 million of those were sold in Asia, including Japan.
Sony, by contrast, has sold about 91 million PlayStation 2 consoles worldwide over the last five years, 21 million of them in Asia. More than a 100 million of the original PlayStations have been sold worldwide.
To appeal to Japanese game fans, Microsoft has made more of a point this time of signing on designers popular in Japan to make games exclusively for Xbox 360, such as Final Fantasy XI.
Microsoft may benefit from a head-start on Sony, which releases its PlayStation 3 next spring.
Microsoft is also odds with Sony in the war to dominate the market for next-generation DVDs.
Microsoft is part of a consortium including chip maker Intel Corp that supports Toshiba's HD DVD, while Sony's Blu-ray format is backed by PC makers such as Apple Computer, Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc.
Ballmer said HD DVD has advantages in integrating with PCs and that the company is working to make it compatible with Vista, Microsoft's first significant Windows upgrade since 2001.
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
TALKS CONTINUE: Although an agreement has not been reached with Washington, lowering the tariff from 32 percent to 20 percent is still progress, the vice premier said Taiwan would strive for a better US tariff rate in negotiations, with the goal being not just lowering the current 20-percent tariff rate, but also securing an exemption from tariff stacking, Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said yesterday. Cheng made the remarks at a news conference at the Executive Yuan explaining the new US tariffs and the government’s plans for supporting affected industries. US President Donald Trump on July 31 announced a new tariff rate of 20 percent on Taiwan’s exports to the US starting on Thursday last week, and the Office of Trade Negotiations on Friday confirmed that it
RSS