Sony Corp, the world's biggest maker of video game players, will sell the PlayStation 3 starting in Nov. 11 in Japan, betting the console's new controller and high-definition DVD player make it worth US$100 more than Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360.
The PS3 will also come with a 20-gigabyte hard disk and sell for ¥59,800 (US$535) in Japan, and US$499 or 499 euros in the US and Europe starting on Nov. 17, said Sony Computer Entertainment America's chief executive Kazuo Hirai, yesterday at an industry conference in Los Angeles.
Sony demonstrated the console in Los Angeles with games including Electronic Arts Inc's NBA Live. It also touted features such as chatting and playing games online, as it looks to catch up with Microsoft, which started selling the Xbox 360 in November. Sony is looking to lure gamers with the unit's Blu-ray DVD player and a controller that allows users to maneuver games by waving it around in the air, features not available on the Xbox 360.
PHOTO: AP
"Early adopters will buy the console, even if it's expensive," said Fumio Osanai, an analyst at UBS Securities Japan Ltd. "The Xbox 360 graphics are no different from the previous PlayStation and on top of that, the PS3 will have Blu-ray, so they can justify the price."
Sony on March 15 delayed the global release of the PS3 from an earlier target to get the player out in "spring," because of a holdup in copy protection standards for the Blu-ray DVD technology.
Shares of Sony have gained 2.6 percent since March 15 when it said it would delay the PS3 by about six months, lagging the Nikkei 225 Stock Average's 5.3 percent advance in the same period.
Sony stock fell 0.9 percent to ¥5,610 today.
The PS3 is key to Sony's business strategy because it uses the Cell chip, the company's fastest processor ever, and can help spur sales from its movie library which includes classic hits from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc's James Bond and Pink Panther series to recent blockbusters such as Spiderman.
"The PS3 is a pillar business for Sony, because it holds the future for its software and device businesses," said Naoki Fujiwara, who oversees about US$172 million in Japanese equities at Shinkin Asset Management Co in Tokyo. "I can't imagine the PS3 spreading that much -- at 60,000 yen it's not something you can easily get the kids for Christmas."
The PS3 price compares with US$399 for an Xbox 360 with a 20-gigabyte hard drive and US$299 for a version without a drive. The PS2 cost ¥39,800 in Japan when it came out in March 2000 and US$399 in the US. A 60-gigabyte version of the PS3 will sell for US$599 or 599 euros, and retailers in Japan can set their own price on that model.
Even with a US$599 price tag, Sony will lose about US$100 to US$200 on every unit is sells initially, analysts said.
The console costs about US$800 to make, Hiroshi Takada, an analyst at JPMorgan Securities Asia wrote in a report today.
Sony last month said the video games unit may have a ¥100 billion operating loss in the year started April 1.
"The start-up costs are such that you may not make money on every single unit from day one, but you will" ultimately make money, said Phil Harrison, president of worldwide studios at Sony Computer Entertainment, in an interview at the conference.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
RSS