TheBigFatJ said: Even today there are still those who predict Sony will spectacularly recover and come back to be #1. Some people are even slower than others, I guess. |
Don't underestimate Sony.
What happened
Sony had a spectacular launch -- spectacularly awful, that is. Why? I would say the one thing that held it back was the price. While BluRay + Internet + HD + etc. etc. may be worth $600 to Sony, it isn't worth that much to me, average joe buyer. $400 is better, $350 puts it within my "value for the money" category, and I think that's when the mass markets starts buying it. Some of the games for Sony's console are awesome, and I think there are many buyers out there who want the PS3, but are unwilling to spend that much money so we're in a "let's wait for the price to come down."
What we are seeing now
Sony tested the waters with the temporary price drop to see what it would do for sales, and I think they saw a positive impact. So I think they'll go for real/permanent price drop soon, probably right before Christmas to get people talking about it.
The games market is going to split. The development cost of games is going to make PS3 and 360 share most of the HD games, with the Wii getting more exclusives. This is going to cause many gamers to buy both the Wii and either a 360 or a PS3. Between 360 and PS3, I think most people will choose the PS3, partly on name brand recognition, and partly on BluRay (which I think is going to win the HD format war), but there is another thing that will be the deciding factor. And that's what coming out in the near future...
What we will be seeing
Internet hosted TV is going to take off, and Sony has the perfect console for bringing that to your main TV, with it being a quiet console and also having a browser. Sony's movie studio CAN make that venture successful. I say CAN because Sony's stupidity regarding DRM seems to doom them all the time. Recent decisions are showing they are accepting the reality that people don't want crackpot DRM schemes. But whether Sony will continue to loosen up remains to be seen.
IMHO, the formula is there for success. But Sony is going to have to make some sacrifices to really pull this off. Price cut before this Christmas, and start getting their own movie content onto the web, viewable by their PS3 (and other browsers, but it HAS to be viewable by the PS3 and available in multiple download speeds + available for local storage only if using PS3). And then good marketing to make "average joe" aware of this functionality. Like a commercial showing two adults sitting down with their friends to watch a movie. "Did you buy it or rent it?" "neither" "Is it on cable?" "No, it's available on demand through the internet. We can watch it on our computer, but we find it to be more comfortable watching it here in High Def on our PS3." Something like that will get the attention of "average joe."