I'm sure Sony knows what they're doing.

Sony can't even satisfy demand here, why would they launch in Japan when they have no available units.  Also the games targetting the Japanese audience won't be ready until then.

The safer a market is, the less effort is made to win. There is simply no pressure on Sony to rush a console or games in Japan for 2013. We shall see how it plays out, but I think it safe to say Sony will win annual console sales with the PS4 in Japan every year it is one the market there. I'd guess Sony will have 65-70%market share, Nintendo will have 30% and Microsoft picks up ~5% scraps there.

me: What affect will the 2014 release have on the Japanese console market?
you: Japan doesn´t matter anymore.

And it´s quite obvious who doesn´t want to discuss the topic at hand and why you tried to derail the thread :lol:

@DerNebel

What is the reason for the delay in Japan then in your opinion? Because missing out the most important season of the year just for a PS3 port and niche titles isn´t actually the smartest thing to do, especially considering this lead to competitors taking advantage of the situation. Because let´s be honest it would have had a good launch regardless due to hype, just look at PSVs launch numbers. Yakuza would have been a good title to keep that momentum next year.

Obviously there is the excuse of Europe and USA but that´s just that an excuse, proofen by Sony themselves with their 2013 PS4 launch in far less important markets like Brazil, some Asian countries and even Saudi Arabia.

Actions speak louder than words, their desperate PSV actionism with several new colored PSVs, bundles and fricken 2 new models only in Japan speak for themselve.

You also asked if it was a good idea.  The affect on the Japanese console market is one factor in that.

To talk about the affect only, then yeah it is a bit sucky - I'm not sure anyone would deny that it is - but it's hard to say how much.  Almost everyone wrote off the Wii U in Japan, and expect the PS4 to dominate there even when releasing a bit later.

I don't believe Vita & Vita TV strategy were the reasons for PS4 delay.  I think it's just part of global PS4 strategy.  It is a huge and hard decision for Sony Japan for sure.

The opening post clarifies that the question is specifically in context with the Japanese videogame market and not about their global strategy.

"Sonys" biggest ace is Final Fantasy, this is a series that automatically helps smaller franchises like Tales of. and Kingdom Hearts. But who knows when the next main title will be released, because I think they will be looking closely at the userbase in Japan before they put it on the market. I honestly doubt a late PS4 launch will help in that matter to get it released before 2015.

Are you even reading the comments in this thread? Everything you ask has been answered.

Reasons for the late japanese launch:

1. They can't produce infinite numbers of consoles and they want to allocated all they got to the west, where they knew they would sell everything they ship, because they had games that would target those markets and where their biggest direct competitor MS can hurt them the most.

2. They have no software that has any pull in japan ready this year anyway, why release a console in a market without software for the market? That would only damage the Playstation brand in japan.

They released in those smaller markets, because they needed to ship less there and the games they have sell in those markets. 

Also Nintendos holiday success has nothing to do with the lack of the PS4, those consoles have games that aim at completely different audiences. Nobody in Japan is going to say "Damn I wanted a PS4 to play Killzone this december, but since it's not available I'll get a Wii U and Mario and then never get a PS4", you realise how stupid that sounds right? If someone wants a PS4 he'll get a PS4, no matter if it's december or february.

And that Vita bit doesn't make more sense if you repeat it, the Vita support has nothing to do with the PS4 not coming out in Japan yet.

Impossible to say for sure until we see the first 6 months of PS4 sales.

My best analysis is that under the circumstances, it was the best option available to Sony, but that allowing Nintendo to have a head start of TWO uncontested Holiday seasons was a dangerous move. At the moment, due to the Wii U's disastrous first 12 months on sale, it looks to me like this second uncontested Holiday for it has only evened the odds, allowing the console enough breathing room to recover. Whether or not it can become strong enough by February to hold its own against the PS4 in the long run remains to be seen.

I think that if the PS4 had launched last month in Japan with FFXIV and a couple of other regionally popular games, it could have made December a steeply uphill battle for the Wii U, not unlike what we're seeing now in America. But Sony couldn't do that, and I think they made the right call for themselves. It just happens that Sony's best option was also to the benefit of Nintendo.

Didn´t know Saudi Arabia and some Asian countries are considered "the west" and that Brazil is an important console market with a high priority nowadays.

You should really read prior posts. These units could have as easily been shipped to Japan instead if they wanted, which means even with the same amount of produced consoles, but they had simply other plans (PSV2000+PSVTV in Japan).

But it´s obvious why this simple and realistic scenario gets ignored. Because until now there was the always easy excuse of more important markets and this simply doesn´t fit in the script does it?

Also the delay didn´t exactly change the software situation all that much to warrant missing the holidays did it? Because in my book the PS3 port of Yakuza would have still been in the PS4 launch-window and since TGS there haven´t been many new announcements anyway, besides other late PS3 ports from the Musou franchise.

You keep saying that but nobody agrees that they delayed PS4 for Vita or Vita TV.

Vita TV is selling ~5,000 units a week.  It's totally insignificant as a product without PS4 remote play, or GAIKAI service whenever that is launched.