JackZhou
02-14-2005, 02:08 AM
Sony pins hopes on PlayStation Portable
February 13, 2005
Peter Jeffrey, 26, an English teacher in Tokyo, says he awoke early Dec. 12 to make sure he was among the first owners of Sony Corp.'s new PlayStation Portable.
When a series of glitches sent him back to the retailer to seek a replacement, he found the console had sold out. He decided to wait for a new one.
"If it was anything else, I'd want my money back," Jeffrey said.
The PlayStation Portable has to go right for Sony to stanch profit declines in its electronics, music and games divisions, which account for 80 percent of sales.
Those three divisions are cooperating to produce the PSP. It will be introduced in the U.S. next month.
"They need the PSP to be a success," said Yuuki Sakurai, who helps manage $4.7 billion at Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance in Tokyo, including Sony shares. "A hit would show that Sony is able to coordinate the different businesses to make a product the public can be excited about."
Sony's group sales have grown just 2 percent on average in the past five years, while profit margins have averaged 2.4 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
For consumer electronics, which provide about 70 percent of sales, operating profit fell 23 percent last quarter after an 83 percent plunge in the previous three months, Sony said.
"We've entered an era of mega-competition where businesses have to adapt to the information technology, consumer electronics and telecommunications industries," Sony President Kunitake Ando said Feb. 3.
The PSP sold out in Tokyo within hours of its Dec. 12 release. The company more than doubled monthly production to 900,000 units last month, according to Kenichi Fukunaga, a spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment.
Sony plans to introduce the PSP in North America on March 24.
Sony Computer Entertainment President Ken Kutaragi was responsible for developing the PlayStation home console a decade ago. In a Tokyo speech last month he called the PSP, which is Sony's first hand-held game player, the "Walkman for the 21st Century."
The PSP's graphics run on a proprietary chip developed by Sony, making the device difficult to copy. The console also has built-in software to play music and videos.
February 13, 2005
Peter Jeffrey, 26, an English teacher in Tokyo, says he awoke early Dec. 12 to make sure he was among the first owners of Sony Corp.'s new PlayStation Portable.
When a series of glitches sent him back to the retailer to seek a replacement, he found the console had sold out. He decided to wait for a new one.
"If it was anything else, I'd want my money back," Jeffrey said.
The PlayStation Portable has to go right for Sony to stanch profit declines in its electronics, music and games divisions, which account for 80 percent of sales.
Those three divisions are cooperating to produce the PSP. It will be introduced in the U.S. next month.
"They need the PSP to be a success," said Yuuki Sakurai, who helps manage $4.7 billion at Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance in Tokyo, including Sony shares. "A hit would show that Sony is able to coordinate the different businesses to make a product the public can be excited about."
Sony's group sales have grown just 2 percent on average in the past five years, while profit margins have averaged 2.4 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
For consumer electronics, which provide about 70 percent of sales, operating profit fell 23 percent last quarter after an 83 percent plunge in the previous three months, Sony said.
"We've entered an era of mega-competition where businesses have to adapt to the information technology, consumer electronics and telecommunications industries," Sony President Kunitake Ando said Feb. 3.
The PSP sold out in Tokyo within hours of its Dec. 12 release. The company more than doubled monthly production to 900,000 units last month, according to Kenichi Fukunaga, a spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment.
Sony plans to introduce the PSP in North America on March 24.
Sony Computer Entertainment President Ken Kutaragi was responsible for developing the PlayStation home console a decade ago. In a Tokyo speech last month he called the PSP, which is Sony's first hand-held game player, the "Walkman for the 21st Century."
The PSP's graphics run on a proprietary chip developed by Sony, making the device difficult to copy. The console also has built-in software to play music and videos.