Sony Corp, the world's biggest video-game console maker, will delay sales of the PlayStation 3 by about six months to early November, giving Microsoft Corp more time to increase its share of the US$20 billion global market.
The company had problems with a copy-protection format for its Blu-ray high-definition DVD player, preventing a planned release this spring, Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, said at a media conference in Tokyo yesterday.
Sony would be a year behind Microsoft, which released its latest Xbox 360 console in the US in November last year. The PlayStation 3 features Sony's Blu-ray technology and its fastest processor ever, forming a key part of chief executive officer Howard Stringer's strategy to use entertainment businesses to spur sales of consumer electronics.
Sony is targeting production of 1 million units a month for a global launch of the PlayStation 3 in November, Kutaragi said.
Shares of Sony fell 1.8 percent to ?5,470 at the 3pm close in Tokyo, compared with a 0.5 percent gain in the NIKKEI 225 Stock Average. The announcement came after markets shut.
Sony's first two PlayStation game consoles are bestsellers worldwide, with more than 100 million units sold each.
With the PlayStation 2, Sony missed out on the 1999 year-end shopping season to Sega Enterprises Ltd's Dreamcast game machine. Still, the PS2 was launched in March 2000, 18 months ahead of Nintendo Co's GameCube and almost two years ahead of Microsoft's first Xbox, and outsold all three consoles.
Merrill Lynch & Co's Tokyo-based analyst Hitoshi Kuriyama wrote in a report last month that the PlayStation 3 launch may be pushed back to autumn in Japan and next year in the US, because of reasons that included delays in video-chip production, heat emissions problems and a shortage of games.
The PlayStation 3 will cost about ?74,000 (US$630) to make, with the Cell chip and Blu-ray accounting for more than half of the costs, and Sony will probably sell it for ?44,800 in Japan and US$399 in the US, Kuriyama said.
That compares with the Xbox 360's US$399 price tag for a console with a hard-disk drive, and US$299 for a unit without a drive. Sony's PS3 won't come with a hard-disk drive, which can be used to store music, movies and other computer files.
The PlayStation 3 will be compatible with the Blu-ray disc, which can store at least five times more video, audio and computer files than standard DVDs. The console's Cell chip will also make the PS3 about 35 times faster than its predecessor.
"There clearly would be a huge risk with a delay," said Stephen Hall, who helps manage the equivalent of US$572 million at Britannic Asset Management in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Blu-ray will have to compete with Toshiba Corp's high-definition DVD format, which can store at least four times more data than standard DVDs. Microsoft backs Toshiba's HD DVD format and chairman Bill Gates last year said future versions of the Xbox 360 may support the HD DVD format.
"It remains to be seen whether the PS3 will be regarded as an entertainment hub, which Howard Stringer wants to do," said Amir Anvarzadeh, director of Japanese equity sales at KBC Financial Products in London.
A delay is "a hindrance. People want the PS3 to come out regardless of what the media is. They don't care if it's Blu-ray or HD DVD," Anvarzadeh said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
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