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Forums - Sony - Should the PSP be viewed as a succes or a failure?

Joemanji on 16 July 2007

@vizunary, WS and WSC stands for Wonderswan and Wonderswan Color

 

I agree... hardware sales are a success. But as Biggerboat already suggested, that's not the issue... this is a games business and it's all about the games. I can only name a few million sellers on the PSP as opposed to those systems it has beaten in the list you mentioned.

 

Sony introduced the PSP not just to rival the GBA and DS, it was supposed to rival the Ipod as well. Considering the success of the Ipod, it failed to do so miserably.



      

   

 

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jman8 on 16 July 2007
Biggerboat said:
jman8 said:

I wouldn't quite count out the UMD just yet. The new PSP redesign with video out is only going to help sales of the movies, especially since they are encoded in 480p. Now if they just offer the videos at a more reasonable price, the format could still have some life. And it sounds like Sony execs understand this. Check out this Kotaku interview of Jack Tretton: http://kotaku.com/gaming/kotakutalku/jack-tretton-on-future-of-umd-278504.php.

Along those lines, there's a movie/music download service that's on the way that could be successful.

Also, we're still really early into the life of the system. It's only been 2 years and 4 months since it came out. If it has a 5 year lifecycle like most game systems, it's not even half way done. Again, I think the redesign will help bolster sales at least for this holiday season, which will probably be its best season to date.


If the video output was for all models then I'd think it would have a bigger impact but as far as I'm aware it's just the Lite. Also whilst a nice feature I don't think it'll be a system seller and would again possibly have little effect on game sales. The thing I don't get about Sony making a more efficient model is that the've put in a less powerful battery meaning that even though it eats less power the new PSP will have just as short a play length per charge as before! Incredible decision! Maybe Sony will make some dough on media downloads but if that scene is anything like the gaming one on the system then most PSP owners will be getting their fix illegally.


Considering UMD sales are pretty much in the dumps, i dunno how video out wouldn't positively impact UMD sales. Sure video out is only on the new model, but sales of the new model are gonna be significantly better than the old one because of the overall improvement to the system in every way with little to no negatives. And if you watched the Jack Tretton interview I linked, you would've heard that it sounds like Sony understands that it has to price UMDs more competitively than they are currently. The video out feature adds a whole new dimension of value to UMDs. Remember, UMDs are encoded in 480p. So video quality is actually quite good on TV screens. In fact it probably equals DVD quality as long as you're not playing your DVD on a fancy upscaling player. The biggest sacrifice UMDs make is lack of surround sound (how many people have surround sound?) and lack of bonus features (do people actually care that much about bonus content? maybe a little.) Now I'm not saying UMDs are gonna be the new DVD, in fact I doubt any format becomes the "new DVD," but it still has potential for some success even if it is small. Between UMDs, Blu Ray, and Video-on-demand/Downloadable Content, it seems like Sony has their bases covered for replacing DVDs. Might really confuse the customers though....



My Top 5:

Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 3, Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, Chrono Trigger

My 2 nex-gen systems: PS3 and Wii

Prediction Aug '08: We see the PSP2 released fall '09. Graphically, it's basically the same as the current system. UMD drive ditched and replaced by 4-8gb on board flash memory. Other upgrades: 2nd analog nub, touchscreen, blutooth, motion sensor. Design: Flip-style or slider. Size: Think Iphone. Cost: $199. Will be profitable on day 1.

jman8 on 16 July 2007
jstam said:
windbane said:
RolStoppable said:

The PSP should be viewed as a failure simply because it clearly didn't meet Sony's own expectations in the portable system.

For those who think the 33 % marketshare (if we neglect GBA sales in the timeframe since DS and PSP launched) of the PSP is a success, because it took away from Nintendo's dominance, there are two good reasons standing against this:

First, this percentage will shrink over the course of the next few years and will be most likely around 20 % at the end.

Second, it doesn't really bother Nintendo if Sony took some marketshare because the overall handheld market sales are most likely at least doubling the GBA sales of 76 million units. The PSP isn't really taking away any revenue or profits from Nintendo's handheld business.


I would have a DS if I didn't have a PSP. I doubt I'm alone. I don't think Sony views it as a failure. It's about to get a huge sales boost with the new version.

you really think that the psp is going to get a HUGE sales boost? i honestly doubt it will even make a dint on the charts, maybe an extra 50k for a couple of weeks but thats about it

 


Just like the price cut a couple of months ago didn't help the PSP? Last time I checked, the PSPs been outselling the 360 and is only behind the Wii and DS. But I guess for your high standards everything selling less than those two are an utter failure.  



My Top 5:

Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 3, Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, Chrono Trigger

My 2 nex-gen systems: PS3 and Wii

Prediction Aug '08: We see the PSP2 released fall '09. Graphically, it's basically the same as the current system. UMD drive ditched and replaced by 4-8gb on board flash memory. Other upgrades: 2nd analog nub, touchscreen, blutooth, motion sensor. Design: Flip-style or slider. Size: Think Iphone. Cost: $199. Will be profitable on day 1.

Bodhesatva on 16 July 2007
windbane said:
RolStoppable said:

The PSP should be viewed as a failure simply because it clearly didn't meet Sony's own expectations in the portable system.

For those who think the 33 % marketshare (if we neglect GBA sales in the timeframe since DS and PSP launched) of the PSP is a success, because it took away from Nintendo's dominance, there are two good reasons standing against this:

First, this percentage will shrink over the course of the next few years and will be most likely around 20 % at the end.

Second, it doesn't really bother Nintendo if Sony took some marketshare because the overall handheld market sales are most likely at least doubling the GBA sales of 76 million units. The PSP isn't really taking away any revenue or profits from Nintendo's handheld business.


I would have a DS if I didn't have a PSP. I doubt I'm alone. I don't think Sony views it as a failure. It's about to get a huge sales boost with the new version.


I do agree that Sony probably doesn't view the system as a failure, but I think we're getting in to semantics here. Rolstoppable is right that Sony openly stated that they expected to best the DS in handheld market, and yet it's actually being outsold 2.5:1.

A failure? No. Dramatically below Sony's projected units sold and expected market share? Yes. 



http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a324/Arkives/Disccopy.jpg%5B/IMG%5D">http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a324/Arkives/Disccopy.jpg%5B/IMG%5D">

konnichiwa on 16 July 2007
RolStoppable said:

The PSP should be viewed as a failure simply because it clearly didn't meet Sony's own expectations in the portable system.

 

Expetations of forummers (Wii fanbosy) around 2005: Sony's PSP will never sell more than 20 million, yeah it is way to expensive!!     Today it sold more than 20 million you know for Sony this is already what they were thinking
but they never thought DS would sold a lot like it is today (even Wii fanboys and Nintendo itself).

For those who think the 33 % marketshare (if we neglect GBA sales in the timeframe since DS and PSP launched) of the PSP is a success, because it took away from Nintendo's dominance, there are two good reasons standing against this:

First, this percentage will shrink over the course of the next few years and will be most likely around 20 % at the end.

Oh you know the future?  Who will be the next president of the US?  Will it be an idiot like Bush?
  How many more people will
die in Iraq?  

Second, it doesn't really bother Nintendo if Sony took some marketshare because the overall handheld market sales are most likely at least doubling the GBA sales of 76 million units. The PSP isn't really taking away any revenue or profits from Nintendo's handheld business.

 

How can you be sure of that?  DS would probably sold more than it is doing now 


 






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jman8 on 16 July 2007

The thing is, I doubt even Nintendo expected to be where they are right now with the DS. Considering that the PSP is selling at similar rate to the PS2 when it first came out, how do we know Sony's business plan wasn't to sell 21+ million units in this time frame? I'm sure they're plan wasn't simply to outsell the DS because that's not how models are created. They're goal was probably to hit a certain hardware number, a certain software number, and certain UMD number. They've definitely failed the UMD number, but the other two I'm not so sure about. I think with the DS, EVERYONE (including Nintendo) has discovered the handheld market is way bigger than anyone imagined.



My Top 5:

Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 3, Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, Chrono Trigger

My 2 nex-gen systems: PS3 and Wii

Prediction Aug '08: We see the PSP2 released fall '09. Graphically, it's basically the same as the current system. UMD drive ditched and replaced by 4-8gb on board flash memory. Other upgrades: 2nd analog nub, touchscreen, blutooth, motion sensor. Design: Flip-style or slider. Size: Think Iphone. Cost: $199. Will be profitable on day 1.

z64dan on 16 July 2007

Definitely a success. If someone released an operating system that took 20-30% of the market away from Windows, it would be a success right? Just look at who you are up against if you make a handheld. Nintendo have always been the kings of handheld.



konnichiwa on 16 July 2007

Rofl good point XD






daggy on 16 July 2007

I think it's a big flop. Not only is PSP selling hardware unimpressively, but they also aren't getting much money from the software sales, which is pretty bad considering each PSP makes Sony lose money.

I don't even believe they are going to profit anything from the PSP. Maybe when the new PSP release comes out it could be different, but still...



konnichiwa on 16 July 2007

So you think developpers make games for PSP when they know they will lose money with it?

If Sony is losing money on it developper will to.