James Delahunty
16 Dec 2007 8:24
A senior executive of Sony Corp. has claimed that the company's flagship PlayStation 3 (PS3) games console/home entertainment hub will pass 11 million global unit sales by the end of this fiscal year. Speaking to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, Sony Computer Entertainment's chief executive Kazuo Hirai said he is confident the company will pass the 11 million mark this fiscal year despite increasingly tough competition from Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii consoles.
The holiday season is as vital to the games industry as it is to any, and Sony came prepared to tackle Nintendo and Microsoft this quarter after a disappointing year since the PS3's initial launch. A recent 10% price cut in Japan along with the unveiling of a slimmed-down model turned up the heat on the competition in the territory, and a $100 price cut did wonders for unit sales in North America.
"The PlayStation 3 is starting afresh as a console to play games with. Although pricing strategy is important, now we would like to put our strength in the number of software games," Hirai said. His comments reflect concerns from gamers over the past year about the PS3's game line-up when compared to that of the Xbox 360. The console's touted extras, like the Blu-ray player, were not good enough to take the attention away from games, but informed consumers perceived this as Sony's mistake.
Now with the price cuts and better games, Sony has seen its PS3 sales triple in North America ahead of the crucial holiday season. Finally, we might actually see the console war split between three competitors instead of two and some strong competition will surely mean more big software titles and competitive pricing for consumers to enjoy.
Source:
Yahoo (AFP)