Sony Corp could cut the price of the PlayStation 3 which is facing fierce competition from Nintendo's Wii, the president of the electronics giant said in an interview published yesterday.
Sony "does not rule out the possibility of lowering the price" of the PS3, Sony president Ryoji Chubachi told the Yomiuri Shimbun.
He said the company would make a full assessment of the competitive situation in the home videogame market.
Sony slashed the price of the PS3 20 percent in Japan ahead of its launch there last November as it prepared for a fierce fight against cheaper games consoles from rivals Microsoft and Nintendo.
Even after the price reduction, however, the PS3 is still the most expensive of the three main next-generation videogames consoles on the market by far and many analysts say Sony will need to lower the price further.
Rival Nintendo is enjoying strong sales of the Wii, known for its motion-sensitive controller, outselling the PS3 by more than five to one in Japan last month,research from publisher Enterbrain showed.
Speculation about a possible price cut for the PS3 has grown since Sony announced this week it would lower the price of its new Blu-ray high-definition DVD player for the North American market by US$100 to US$499.
Separately, Sony said it would invest ?60 billion (US$492 million) to ramp up production of image sensors used in digital cameras.
The expansion at Sony's Kumamoto image sensor factory in southern Japan will span the next three years, the company said in a statement.
Tokyo-based Sony did not say by how much output would be boosted, but the Nikkei said the investment would increase capacity 20 percent.
The Kumamoto facility makes CMOS sensors and micro-display devices that are used in hot-selling camera-equipped mobile phones and digital cameras.
Sony is increasing its production capacity to match an expecting surge in Japan.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2