By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Sales Discussion - Is Sony in serious trouble? Talk of closing factories, further shortfalls

Ail on 25 October 2008

Before starting to herald doom and gloom for Sony people should have look at the stockmarket and stop acting like Sony is the only one with problems....

A lot of companies are changing their forecast, it does not mean they will die ( well a few big automakers probably will, and probably a few airlines too) , just that profit will be lower for a while....

The stockmarket as a whole is down over 40% since the beginning of the year...
Companies like Nokia are trading at levels not seen in years despite still being market leader in their segment and making profits....



PS3-Xbox360 gap : 1.5 millions and going up in PS3 favor !

PS3-Wii gap : 20 millions and going down !

Around the Network
Ail on 25 October 2008
dejelek said:
GTAIV08 said:
dejelek said:
so there is no chance ps3 will getting price cut, with xbox 360 have as many as 9 bundle for europe , also some new bundle for NA and Japan. and where is PS3 bundle ?

 

2 price cuts in europe couldnt put the 360 above ps3 for an extended time but some bundles will? there is nothing microsoft can do in europe.

 

oh they don';t have to put xbox 360 above PS3, when actually now others number are 1:1 between ps3 & Xbox 360

that is a very good achievement on MS front.

 

also with most of bundling are mostly for ps3 exclusive games only, MS has smart move

they have bundel cover, Prince persia, TRU, COD WAW, very clever.

 

and don't forget, if MS want to cut price again, it can be done, too,

but Sony can not doing the same thing for PS3.

 

just think MS has so many component beside CPU & GPU that have more room for cutting cost

sony can not, expensive BD-ROM with slot loading, wifi, etc. and now funny thing is, if you bough PS3 last year with BC

now if you receive a replacement, actually you receive an inferior product, because there is no BC (no PS2 chip),

 

 

I'm going to disagree with almost everything you said...

1) It's kinda new to me that the more components you have the easier it is to cut costs, I would actually think the opposite is more true...

2) The PS3 is more expensive so Sony actually has more room to cut price when they decide to do so, that's just basic logic.

3)  Yeah if you have to get your PS3 replaced you might not get back BC back, however last I checked the PS3 never reached a failure rate of 30% so the odds it will break on you and will needs fixing are actually slim...

 



PS3-Xbox360 gap : 1.5 millions and going up in PS3 favor !

PS3-Wii gap : 20 millions and going down !

RVDondaPC on 25 October 2008

The Others numbers are 1:1 now... but the 360 came out like a year before the PS3 did. And in another year it will no longer be 1:1. The PS3 outsold the 360 all but 2 or 3 weeks over the last 12 months. And it doesn't show any sign of changing that trend.



shams on 25 October 2008
senortaco said:
I wonder out loud if Sony would look to sale off assets at some point. As with any business, its bout survival first.

Its already happened:

 - sold off European HQ building (around $500m US)

 - sold off most (all? some?) of its financial services arm

 - talking about selling/closing chip manufacturing factories, and moving to outsourcing model

There is also some conflict between Sony & SonyEricsson - but not sure if this will lead to selling off the division, or forming a "wholly owned" Sony mobile devision.

 



Gesta Non Verba

Nocturnal is helping companies get cheaper game ratings in Australia:

Game Assessment website

Wii code: 2263 4706 2910 1099

Hephaestos on 25 October 2008

sony does upper price tag products... so they are the first ones who'll get hit by lower demand for electronics... and even before as people shift to cheaper substitutes...

Closing factoruies is not a sign of the company being in trouble, but of them realizing that there will be a shift in demand and their market segment shrinking.
Similarly, you'll see low price tech taking the center stage in the comming months.



OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Around the Network
dejelek on 25 October 2008

want to hear daily ps3 user reported error, etc, just go to ps3forums
actually if you compare ps3forums vs forums.teamxbox.com, then it is way more people reported ps3 not loading, crash, etc, overheating than on teamxbox forums.

or just go to boardus.playstation.com, and you will see many kind of ps3 problem.

and about component price, just think if you have to reduce price of
current ps3 BDrom VS xbox360 DVD-rom, which one have more headroom, beside laser lens, just look, slot loading has more expensive drive mechanism, and sony can not remove wifi, why it is already there from start, if they remove it now, then million ps3 user will complain, and there will be some riot at sony HQ,

also just think sony can not remove HDD either, it is already must have item from start, but MS clever, they created more efficient Kernel, xbox 360 don't need HDD, so by removing HDD, MS has xbox 360 arcade which if ms want, they can reduce arcade price even further.



S.T.A.G.E. on 25 October 2008
CGI-Quality said:
Well I don't think they're on life support but they definitely need to re-think their current strategy because I'm guessing right now they will just continue downward unless they shape up. Have no fear though, as I believe they will get themselves out of this position. :D

 

Sony will have to let go of their arrogance and think about the people they are selling products to first, because they seem to have lost that concept. When they do and start pushing technology to the next level (Not BR), then they will gather more people to their side again.



SpartanFX on 25 October 2008

I don't know if you guys noticed or not, but the world is in a very bad economic state right now,,,it's not such a great thing to be a consumer electronic company right now,,,it's not just sony



 

 

 

S.T.A.G.E. on 25 October 2008
Ail said:
dejelek said:
GTAIV08 said:
dejelek said:
so there is no chance ps3 will getting price cut, with xbox 360 have as many as 9 bundle for europe , also some new bundle for NA and Japan. and where is PS3 bundle ?

 

2 price cuts in europe couldnt put the 360 above ps3 for an extended time but some bundles will? there is nothing microsoft can do in europe.

 

oh they don';t have to put xbox 360 above PS3, when actually now others number are 1:1 between ps3 & Xbox 360

that is a very good achievement on MS front.

 

also with most of bundling are mostly for ps3 exclusive games only, MS has smart move

they have bundel cover, Prince persia, TRU, COD WAW, very clever.

 

and don't forget, if MS want to cut price again, it can be done, too,

but Sony can not doing the same thing for PS3.

 

just think MS has so many component beside CPU & GPU that have more room for cutting cost

sony can not, expensive BD-ROM with slot loading, wifi, etc. and now funny thing is, if you bough PS3 last year with BC

now if you receive a replacement, actually you receive an inferior product, because there is no BC (no PS2 chip),

 

 

I'm going to disagree with almost everything you said...

1) It's kinda new to me that the more components you have the easier it is to cut costs, I would actually think the opposite is more true...

You have to lower the standard of the parts in most cases, because you have to spend money to gather the parts to begin with.

2) The PS3 is more expensive so Sony actually has more room to cut price when they decide to do so, that's just basic logic.

Actually, the lowering prices of expensive items just increases demand. Based and parts and labor and profits MS and Nintendo can still drop their prices. Sony cannot just yet with all of the material that is in that system. They are lucky as hell that they managed to launch the PS3 at $599 U.S. Dollars at launch. They launched the system at a loss.

 

3)  Yeah if you have to get your PS3 replaced you might not get back BC back, however last I checked the PS3 never reached a failure rate of 30% so the odds it will break on you and will needs fixing are actually slim...

The 360 is nowhere near a 30% any longer. That was 2 years ago. I will admit that the PS3 is far more reliable though. The thing that is saving the 360 is the reliable library of games and Live.

 

 

 



Dinomax on 25 October 2008
ChichiriMuyo said:
Dinomax said:
ChichiriMuyo said:
Yeah, he's pretty ignorant. He clearly doesn't understand, well, anything about economics. Nor the video game market, if he doesn't realize how much it changed when Sony came along.

I'm sorry I don't know fully about economics being I'v never taken a course or have a diploma or bachelors degree like yourself. Please explain to us all mighty educated one.  Unless your just putting up a front on a internet forum.

Yeah I sure didn't also notice how much the video game market changed, being mostly a SEGA console owner as well a regular at the local arcades.

You sure got me there.

 

The only degree you need to understand the basics of economics is one from a half decent high school.  Some things you should realize are that Sony's stock price and overall health is not so directly related to its console sales (it's a much bigger company than video games), their stock drops have nothing to do with how poorly their vg sector is doing (otherwise they'd have had this trouble a long time ago), Sony's PS3 sales haven't been slowed one bit by the economy's downturn (its other products have), and all companies are taking a hit to some degree even while doing very well (like Nintendo) because the economy goes beyond simple sell-through numbers and profit margins. Really, there's a lot more going on than "Oh, the PS3's sales suck so lol" and in truth that's virtually a non-factor at this point.

Also, you seem to have absolutely no understanding what competition does to a market.  When Sony rose to power and added a third competitor to the market dozens of virtually unknown companies suddenly became stars and most of the companies that came before them were still doing fine.  While the PS certainly took market share from its competition, its very existance allowed the market to grow at a significantly faster pace than it would have otherwise because they brought a whole new perspecitve to the video game business.  More competitors = cheaper prices and/or improved products.  Because Sony came in and threw around a lot of money, a lot of games got made that wouldn't have otherwise and the companies that didn't benefit directly worked harder so they could keep their own share of the pie.  Sony really opened up Europe in a way that Sega could not, it created opportunities for developers that never would have been accepted in to the business otherwise, and it even spurred MS into action to create further competition.  Because Sony is in video games more money is being spent to compete for your attention as a gamer (rather than a comercial watcher) than any time before the PS1's launch.

 

Funny, I mentioned three things you really need to fully understand economics. 

Anyone can get the basics.  Like when I say I know how a rocket gets into space (it goes whoosh)  doesn't mean I'v got it all down like NASA and start claiming people who know exactly the same amount as me not knowing about it. 

 

In fact the whole secound paragraph reminds me a lot of older Nintendo fan posts who's bitter tears would run down there cheeks as they say ""Well if it wasn't for the Nintendo, Sony would'nt have a market to start in!""

Yes the Video game market did change when Sony came in.  Whats the point this meant to be?  To have the cushion of nostalgic make everything ok?  Yes it did all that but its time to look at Sony now.  But time to take off the rosey glasses and see Sony now. 

There not a influential force in the video game industry anymore. 

Thats it. 

There in last place, losing BILLIONS of dollars, the end of the day there not going to make a scratch of profit Nintendo has now or even close during the rest of the PS3's console lifespan. 

I know its hard to accept that, but its being like this for well.  Entire last year and now.  If Sony leave now it wouldn't really affect the videogame market because there not the driving force anymore.  Nintendo is.   Third partys still have a place to develop for on the 360, PC or Wii so theres no real dead end if they left.  As well Microsoft clearly show there competiting by actually dropping prices MORE THAN SONY HAS.