==> I must admit that this guy is right.
http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=16809
| Moore: Sony's Business 'Crumbling' in Japan The 360 isn't doing so hot in Japan, but Microsoft's Peter Moore says Sony should be more worried about the PS3's performance in Japan than Microsoft should be about the Xbox. The Xbox exec said that Sony's plan in Japan is "crumbling" right now in the face of Nintendo's Wii. |
| There's no question that the Xbox business has struggled from the get go in Japan. According to the Famitsu Marketing Data Service, the Xbox 360 has only sold 122,565 units through the first half of the year in Japan. With this data in mind, therefore, it's a bit ironic that Peter Moore, Microsoft's Corporate VP of Interactive Entertainment, should comment on Sony's recent success or lack thereof in the land of the rising sun.
But comment he did. In an interview conducted at E3 last week, GameDaily BIZ asked Moore about the state of Xbox in Japan and he decided to turn the question on its side, taking aim at his competition. When asked specifically about the importance of Japan to the global console battle, he fired back, "That's probably a better question for Sony who's getting outsold by what, 6-to-1? You can bet that Sony built a long-term business plan about being successful in Japan and that business plan is crumbling."
He added, "I built a business plan [for Japan], but I don't think my expectations in Japan were anything close to what Sony's expectations are. They are failing. They're missing their plan by much more than I'm missing my plan."
Of course, we wouldn't be so bold to say that Sony's business in Japan is "crumbling," but the numbers do show that the Wii (as alluded to by Moore) outsold the PS3 by 6-to-1 during the month of June. The disparity isn't quite as great on a first-half basis. The Wii has sold around 1.78 million units in Japan during the first six months of 2007 compared to just 504K for the PS3. Still, the expectations for the Xbox and Xbox 360 have always been somewhat low in Japan, and certainly Sony could never have thought that their new console would be outsold at such as clip by Nintendo's new Wii.
Speaking of business plans, Sony has talked up its so-called 10-year plan for the PS2 and now the PS3 on many occasions. Moore questioned their approach, however.
"I'm not sure what their 10-year plan is," he said. "It's like they just said, 'We have a 10-year plan' [and that's it]."
Moore envisions the Xbox 360 sticking around a lot longer than the original Xbox, which was abruptly cut off after about 4 years. "I think the plan we have built, that calls for cost reductions in hardware, clearly gives us an advantage in price that actually allows us to get to [lower] price points much sooner than Sony will. They can have a '10-year plan' all they like, but it's executing that plan and getting to the mass market with price points [that matters], and I feel a lot closer to being able to do that than they do right now."
He continued, "So we see long-term growth, we see connected entertainment through Xbox Live continuing to grow, the games we have both in depth and breadth feel good... so yeah we've got a plan and it's a long-term plan. Nobody knows how many years; it's easy to say 10 years. Their plan I'm sure is being rejiggered as it is because it was their plan to sell 6 million units during the fiscal year and I don't think they did that."
The complete Peter Moore interview (full transcription coming soon) will go into detail on the hardware problems/warranty extension, appealing more to the casual base with the 360, Halo 3 sales, why Rare isn't doing the next Viva Pinata, and more. |
Time to Work !
