CNN/Money calls the PS3 a "Sinking ship"

stealth toilet said:
Comparatively the PS3 is being outsold by the 360, and especially the Wii, in America and Worldwide. Yes, this is true. Does that mean it is a sinking ship? Hardly. The PS3 is still selling upwards of a couple hundred thousand units per month. It still has a strong attach rate and a number of good exclusive titles. It still has an install base of several million worldwide, and climbing. Its not exactly a "sinking ship."

However, Sony has made some crucial mistakes (like the price) and does have some problems to face on the horizon. They're not outselling their competitors which is something Sony would obviously like to change, but there is still time to correct aforementioned errors and catch up. I don't think Sony is in a position to think about catching up to Microsoft, let alone Nintendo, in the near future, and I don't think that ought to be their aim. The glory days of the PS2 are long gone and Sony needs to focus on getting their online infrastructure sorted out and actually start making good on the grand promises they made at launch. They need to solidify multi-plaftorm game release dates that rival the 360's, and they need to work closely with 3rd-party developers to lock down some exclusives. So far they've been trailing behind in everything, and they need to get caught up quickly in order to start leading their competitors in some areas. Until they do that, they are going to continue to fall behind.

That being said, its really odd and kind of sad to see the PS3 coming up in third place. I thought they had the best E3 and had a strong year all around with MGS4, LBP, Resistance 2, and so on. I very rarely say this but, it really seems like they're trying hard to give people what they want and expect, I wish their efforts were being rewarded a little more. Don't let Microsoft push you around Sony, you're a big boy too. :lol
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Very good points, Stealth. I would just like to add a few things. I think one of the main reasons PS3 is not the dominant console this time around has a lot to do with the 360 being released before it, and mainly, xbox live. With the release of Halo 2, xbox live just got insanely popular. So popular that I believe that is what caused the "switch" of dominant forces. Then the 360 came out and it had a good price, excellent controller, backwards compatibility {to an extent}, xbox live, and the big one, a new Halo game. I really think MS owes a lot of their 360 sales to the Halo franchise, without it, I honestly do not think the 360 would be where it is. I personally know many people who owned a PS2, but now they only have a 360 and have no intention of getting PS3. And all for the same reason, xbox live. So, while I do believe that Sony has made some mistakes with the PS3, I feel that they just genuinely got beat by MS {so far, of course}. But, as we saw towards the end of last gen, anything can happen. I do believe the hardware problems of the 360 will most definitely have a negative impact on their future.
 
What mistakes has Sony made? I dont think the price of the PS3 is a mistake, it would be saying that the price of a Hummer H2/H3/H4 is a mistake simply because not everyone has it and it isnt the dominant SUV on the market. Regardless,

The only fault that Sony has is one that has been around for all the time this generation. They spent too much on R&D (research and development) and now need to, remake those costs in order to move on to finally, which we have seen recently, launch into a vigorous and rigorous advertisement campaign.

Perhaps we shouldnt look towards the numbers of PS3's on the market but rather if it is a profitable asset to Sony's game division. As long as they are bringing in money than it will be good. See how well the PSP has been doing from the past 2 years ago to today, it seems that it has made some great strides, and although it isnt busting sales records like the DS it still has a faithful following and has tons of support for all of its media features and offerings.

I love me some PS3 and PSP media support.
 
http://kotaku.com/5114588/no-ps3-price-cuts-before-summer-09

Adding more fuel to the fire, Sony says no PS3 Price cuts before summer 09'
 
For them to still sell 200,000 units in NA during thanksgiving at this Premium Price is a testament to the strenght of the Playstation brand.
 
Starrynite said:
For them to still sell 200,000 units in NA during thanksgiving at this Premium Price is a testament to the strenght of the Playstation brand.
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Not really when you consider that a year ago, 360's at a very similar price, sold about 800,000 units, IIRC.

This no price cut thing is suicide for them. They're basically handing Microsoft the North American market on a silver platter. Any chance they had of passing Microsoft in North America is basically gone.
 
It's not going to be any easier for them to catch up either, considering FFXIII is going to be on the 360 as well, and I know that's what most people think will be the game to bring the PS3 back to the top.
 
We are still just two years in this generation and people are handing it over to Microsoft. From what we have seen thus far, sony has sold more than they sold and surpassed last year and Microsoft is apparently, by comparing year to year numbers, still selling the same amount they sold last year. In this day and age we need to commend Sony.

Forgo the appearance of wanting market share, you seem to be implying that Sony just give up selling the PS3 and comparably, give up selling the PSP to if we want to discuss market share. In that case PSP has long been out the count and developers might as well forgo any decision to creating games for it and we just throw our PSP's in the toilet...
 
Starrynite said:
We are still just two years in this generation and people are handing it over to Microsoft. From what we have seen thus far, sony has sold more than they sold and surpassed last year...
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They meaning Sony? In all likelihood, yes, but they'll probably release worldwide statistics towards the end of the year so who knows. Microsoft has too, from what I gather from the NPD numbers.

by comparing year to year numbers, still selling the same amount they sold last year.
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I would like to see a source on that because I have yet to see any worldwide sales figures from any of the three companies.

Forgo the appearance of wanting market share, you seem to be implying that Sony just give up selling the PS3 and comparably, give up selling the PSP to if we want to discuss market share. In that case PSP has long been out the count and developers might as well forgo any decision to creating games for it and we just throw our PSP's in the toilet...
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No, I am not. I am saying that Sony is throwing so many sales out the window by stubbornly refusing to lower the price. In fact, it's amazing the PS3 has amounted to the good console it is, considering Sony's ADHD SKU strategy, refusal to lower prices, and poor dev kits. This is nothing against the PS3 (or PSP) itself. This is more like a big WTH at Sony for completely nonsensical decisions. Their goal is clearly to make as much of a profit as possible and profits generally grow as the number of people who have the console grows. What they're doing is almost counter-productive.
 
The Sony strategy reminds me of the same strategy they took with Hummers awhile back with the H2 and such, they didnt seem to lower the price and people still bought them.

Sony's goal is the same as others with the pricing. Why else would people still buy Apple products such as Macbooks and even Ipods, and exclaim that they are too expensive, yet people still buy it. Heh, I still bought my PS3 even though I thought it was pricey.

Is your vision for Sony to lower the price only to have more consoles on the market to out sale Microsoft?
 
Starrynite said:
The Sony strategy reminds me of the same strategy they took with Hummers awhile back with the H2 and such, they didnt seem to lower the price and people still bought them.

Sony's goal is the same as others with the pricing. Why else would people still buy Apple products such as Macbooks and even Ipods, and exclaim that they are too expensive, yet people still buy it. Heh, I still bought my PS3 even though I thought it was pricey.
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The game industry is very different than the automobile market (where there is a specific market for expensive luxury cars...oh, by the way, Hummers are a lot cheap now) and Apple's computer market (where they have a monopoly on computers that can run Leopard/Tiger). You make money in the video game market, not by selling consoles, but by selling games. Given the billions of dollars it takes to research, build, manufacture, ship, and market a console, you have to sell many many games in order to make any amount of money. The only way in which you do this, however, is to sell many many consoles. If you don't, you simply won't make much money in the industry. That is why other high priced consoles like the Neo-Geo, while being great systems to many, were financial sink-holes, in the end. You simply can't make money off of a "luxury" console. It has to be widely affordable. That is demonstrated by the Neo-Geo, and other consoles in similar price ranges like the 3DO and CDI.

Is your vision for Sony to lower the price only to have more consoles on the market to out sale Microsoft?
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No, my vision and hope for the PS3 has little to do with sales figures. I'm just looking at this from a business perspective.
 
Then if you are looking at it from a business perspective, it would make sense to bring the ENTIRE games division of Sony into the green, or black as their charts would be indicated in the boardrooms. A price cut means further losses, sure it may mean the cheaper minded consumer wont purchase it, but if the people buy the console and if they, as they have done, continue to support it with great software (downloadable) and tangible, as well as their PSN, rental and download service and blu-ray, they can really make the 399 for the PS3 quite reasonable to get and who knows, people who buy it may be inclined to thrown down more bucks on first party software. I think that all of this is quite a gamble, but I would rather them make profit for at least this year to prove to everyone that their games divison can turn a profit, then release mad price cuts in March and so on.

They dont need Console Market share, they need money for this year. Next year is the year of the PS3.
 
Well we cant even find reliable worldwide console numbers that are ever up to date with people criticizing all outlets. Unless Sony releases a statement in the coming days or weeks on their console numbers. We just now they said they were selling more units this year than have in the last year on their Press Release following the end of November.
 
There's a fine balance in pricing.

If you're too high, they don't sell as well - but you make more money with each sale.

If you lower the price, you may have more sales - but not make as much because the price is lower.

So the trick is to find the price where you have a lot of sales and you are still making a certain amount with each sale.

I don't think Sony has found that price yet.
 
Well, the PS3's still losing money on each console made, but only $40 compared to what it used to be is great. But now we want them to lower the PS3's price another $100, so Sony's losing $140 on each console made?
 
Well that seems to be what people want them to do, make Sony lose hundreds of dollars on each console sold.

Rather, probably within 2 months they will announce more less pricey ways to manufacture PS3s' will smaller and more efficient chips. And with Durable Goods and Manufacturer goods prices lowering worldwide, it will be super cheap to make all of the consoles.
 
Starrynite said:
Well that seems to be what people want them to do, make Sony lose hundreds of dollars on each console sold.

Rather, probably within 2 months they will announce more less pricey ways to manufacture PS3s' will smaller and more efficient chips. And with Durable Goods and Manufacturer goods prices lowering worldwide, it will be super cheap to make all of the consoles.
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that is what i was thinking, they have done it before i am 100% sure they can do it again for their own good and for the good of their future costumers
 
You want them to lose hundreds of dollars?

I would go with lower production costs and lower prices in response, its what they have done so far for the PS3 generation.

Although they could lose hundred dollars on each console, but then they need each person to buy 2 1st Party titles to Offset the cost.
 
Starrynite said:
You want them to lose hundreds of dollars?

I would go with lower production costs and lower prices in response, its what they have done so far for the PS3 generation.

Although they could lose hundred dollars on each console, but then they need each person to buy 2 1st Party titles to Offset the cost.
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oh sorry i meant the second part of your post (i thought it would clear i meant that when i said "for their own good"), i agree with the lower production costs and lower prices, just like they have done before with ps2 and psp
 
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