Sony is sticking to its target of shipping 2 million PlayStation 3 consoles by the end of the calendar year, its president said yesterday, addressing concerns the company might not meet demand ahead of the critical holiday season.
Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo, Sony Corp president Ryoji Chubachi also said there were no expected changes in the cost of an embarrassing global recall of Sony laptop batteries, which has affected almost every major laptop maker in the world.
"Sales are meeting our expectations," Chubachi said of the PS3, the powerful update to its popular PlayStation video game console series. "Two million by the end of the year is within our range."
Tokyo-based Sony also expects to meet its shipment target of 6 million PS3 ready by the end of the fiscal year ending March and will launch its next generation system in Europe as soon as possible, Chubachi said.
PlayStation 3 made its highly anticipated world debut in Japan last month to long lines.
Chubachi said Sony is working to cut PS3 production costs, and expected to see the effects of that next year. A weak yen against the euro is also expected to minimize losses it makes on consoles sold in Europe and play to Sony's advantage.
He also said a recent management reshuffle -- which saw technology guru Ken Kutaragi relieved of day-to-day responsibilities as president of Sony's game unit -- was meant to reflect more emphasis on software development and marketing elements of an increasingly vital business for the company.
"With the PS3 launch, the entire game industry will expand. Its positioning within the Sony group is larger than ever," Chubachi said.
Kutaragi, also known as the "father of the PlayStation," was technically promoted from president to chairman of Sony's gaming arm. But in Japan, such a move sometimes disguises retirement or demotion -- and analysts have expressed concern that Kutaragi was sidelined over difficulties in the PS3 launch or that the move signals serious disagreements within the group's executives.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft