Bloomberg: Sony profit may drop 50% on poor PS3 sales
by Blake Snow 
{ Jan 29th 2007 at 2:15PM }
From the "PS3 still can't get a break" files come analyst predictions that Sony profits may drop 50% in fiscal Q3 off soft sales of the PS3. The Bloomberg report claims the drop "may highlight Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer's failure to fend off Nintendo," and states the Wii is outselling the PS3 by two-to-one. For reference, PlayStation products are Sony's second-largest source of revenue. Not all news was bad for Sony, however; the company may still exceed its full-year profit target due to strong sales of Bravia televisions, growth in the movie unit, and a weaker yen. But to say the PS3 is having a tough time gaining traction is an understatement.
[via Gamasutra]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
crazyrabbits @ Jan 29th 2007 2:58PM
Like the old adage goes, "Flame on!"
Matt @ Jan 29th 2007 2:22PM
Quick, SDF ASSEMBLE!
Zero @ Jan 29th 2007 2:59PM
50% of zero is still zero.
MoonfirePewPEwPEw @ Jan 29th 2007 2:24PM
Oh no, our SDF powers are no match for this blog entry. We have to summon Captain Planet!
EARTH!
Actiss @ Jan 29th 2007 3:39PM
SDF: "Agents are.... GO!!"
Tsalagi @ Jan 29th 2007 2:28PM
Sucks to be Sony right now.
Martez @ Jan 29th 2007 2:28PM
"may highlight Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer's failure to fend off Nintendo,"
Huh? I thought Nintendo wasn't even considered competition? Even still: charging over two times more than a Wii, with only one decent launch game and limited stock? What did they expect to happen? Of course the Wii is going to sell more initially. And wouldn't profit drop anyway since they're selling PS3s at a loss?
Sony couldn't have honestly thought that when they told us to get an extra job to start saving for a PS3 that we all listened.
Sanchinos @ Jan 29th 2007 2:28PM
AIR!
Koopaknight29 @ Jan 29th 2007 2:31PM
FIRE!
Jonny @ Jan 29th 2007 2:31PM
HEART!!
Tsalagi @ Jan 29th 2007 3:13PM
Rumble!! ...eh, i mean Shake!!!!
Myke @ Jan 29th 2007 2:31PM
Water!!!
I love gscentral.org @ Jan 29th 2007 2:37PM
I hope people at Sony can work overtime to save themselves or otherwise this 'next-gen race' is going to be a 45 second dash. ;-)
sheppy @ Jan 29th 2007 2:32PM
Excerpt from Blake Snow's LiveJournal...
"I awoke soaked in sweat once again, tears falling gently down my face. The snowy weather always reminds me of those events. What was supposed to be a merry christmas. My brother was sick and dying and he had made a wish with some foundation. He wanted an Ultra64 but they were not exactly in existance at the time. That's when the strange man entered our lives, half frozen from the cold.
My brother plied a frozon box containing a PSX and Wipeout from under the strangers arm while I moved the shivering asian man closer to the fire. There was something in his eyes, something dangerously distant. Those few times he would not ramble about the fourth dimension or sputtering curses against Hiroshi Yamauchi, he would simply repeat "Who am I? I'm fucking Ken Kuturugi, that's who!" As night fell, our mysterious guest became more active and we gave him a blanket and let him sleep in the den.
Later that night, the constant scratching of fingernails at my door awoke me. At first, I thought it was my dog but alas, we ate him at first snowfall. They repeatedly steadily before he finally broke down the door. A terrifying siloutte of a man posed within the doorframe, something grisly and dripping hanging from his mouth. I scrambled for the lights hoping that the sudden shock would scare away the offender.
The limp, gnawed arm could only be identified as my mothers purely by the wedding ring she refused to remove long after father ran away with Yuji Naka chanting something about Monkey Balls. His eyes focused on me as he unleashed a gutteral "Riiidggee Raaacccerrr." He leaped toward me in my bed but I ducked in time to watch him hurl himself through my winter and back into the winter night, a trail of blood marking his path.
In the morning, I discovered my brother had died from an epileptic seizure, the reflection of wipeout burned across his retina. I will never forgive him the the life of nightmares and the hellish existance my life has become."
Arglor @ Jan 29th 2007 2:35PM
heart?
kimo @ Jan 29th 2007 2:36PM
WEEEND!!
Koopaknight29 @ Jan 29th 2007 2:36PM
With your powers combined I am...
"Rrrrriiidge Rrraaacccerr!!!"
Captain Planet @ Jan 29th 2007 2:39PM
With your powers combined, I am CAPTAIN PLANET!
Now, what's going on here? Oh, Sony's in trouble? Eh, fuck em. I like my Wonderswan.
oh, and DON'T LITTER!
now everyone sing! CAPTIAN PLANET! HE'S OUR HERO!
HE'S GONNA TAKE POLLUTION DOWN TO ZERO! etc......
Arglor @ Jan 29th 2007 2:37PM
oh my scratch that... apparently heart is a part of the captain planet sequence...
blew my cover... i've never seen it.
Rob Holiday @ Jan 29th 2007 2:39PM
With these 5 powers combined, we summon the earths greatest hero... CAPTAIN PLANET!!!
crazyrabbits @ Jan 29th 2007 4:02PM
This just in...fanboys are frothing at the mouth. More at 11.
Slaziman @ Jan 29th 2007 2:40PM
ROFLMFAO
GO PLANET
WITH YOUR POWERS COMBINED I AM CAPTAIN PLANET
Koopaknight29 @ Jan 29th 2007 4:01PM
Hehe, sorry I couldn't resist the jab.
But, seriously, this is to be expected, at least for the first two-ish years. The best thing Sony can do is: suck it up, tighten their belts, and for God's sake stop shooting themslves in the goddamn foot already! Sheesh, the hospital bills alone could sink the company by now.
Crono @ Jan 29th 2007 2:41PM
Sheppy, your creative writing skills are awesome.
Too bad you use them for evil.
GO PLANET!!
MoonfirePewPEwPEw @ Jan 29th 2007 2:43PM
Captain Planet, he's our hero,
Gonna take Sony's stock to zero,
Gonna help him put Sony's Gaming Division under,
Bad guys who like to loot and plunder (our wallets).
generaldane @ Jan 29th 2007 2:43PM
captqain planet he's a hero gonna take badguy down to zero
White Rose Duelist @ Jan 29th 2007 2:43PM
Captain Planet cannot be summoned until March of 2007 because the Ring of Wind has not been released in Linka's territory yet.
Kasey @ Jan 29th 2007 2:43PM
No SDF Post yet? I've got bets people.
2 to 5 on "Another analyst? They don't take into account TRUE NEXT GEN GAMING."
1 to 3 on "Another anti-sony post by Snow. I'm leaving this site it has become nothing but DOOOM AND GLOOM. Fanbois!"
The safe play: "They say that now, but there are a lot of good games like RFOM and others. Just wait till FF and MG come out! You nintenbots and xfags won't no what hit you!!!!!11!!!!!!!1!!!"
Place your bets!
Slaziman @ Jan 29th 2007 2:44PM
This thread is made of win
The power is YOURS!
32_Footsteps @ Jan 29th 2007 2:44PM
Given that the PS3 eats up more electricity than the Wii, which means more power plants spewing greenhouse gasses, why would Captain Planet try to help out the PS3?
'Sides, I think we all know that Hoggish Greedley is a huge Sony fanboy.
Dadidito @ Jan 29th 2007 4:11PM
You guys have me ROFLMAO!!!! Freaking comments. Thats why i come to these blogs day in and day out.
Jerm @ Jan 29th 2007 2:51PM
Nobody even said anything about the Seinfeld referance....that referance is gold Jerry, solid gold.
Jake @ Jan 29th 2007 2:50PM
I doubt that "poor" sales of the PS3 are responsible for the company as a whole being down 50%. I mean, they have sold +80% of the systems put out.
Damn, I just forked over $1400 on a 46" rear projection LCD 720p HDTV from Sony (for my 360 games, ironically) out of complete pity and they are still struggling. Jeez, see if I help them again. Sweet TV, though.
My first HDTV. I used to spout about how great GoW graphics were in 480i. In HD that game is mindblowing.
Slaziman @ Jan 29th 2007 2:53PM
Captain Planet is going to BEAT THE SHIT out of Nintendo for making us use AA batteries for the controllers.
Marty @ Jan 29th 2007 2:53PM
Jake, +80% of nothing is nothing.
Szu @ Jan 29th 2007 2:58PM
All this talk about Captain Planet reminded of this VGcats comic strip.
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=164
32_Footsteps @ Jan 29th 2007 2:56PM
"I mean, they have sold +80% of the systems put out."
I guess I was wrong about the PS3 being a tease, then.
Kevin D @ Jan 29th 2007 2:58PM
Thanks all of you....
Damn, you all just made my day... I haven't laughed that much in a while.....
Oh, and I like the Robot Chicken 'captain planet' episode best..LOL....
and remember kiddies... " PAY BEYOND " ...LOL...
PeacefulOutrage @ Jan 29th 2007 2:58PM
Is it just me or do analysts only complete limited research before releasing these reports. They must have hard deadlines.
Izuna Drop @ Jan 29th 2007 3:24PM
Best quote ever...
Vidikron @ Jan 29th 2007 3:01PM
Wait... down 50% on PS3 sales? Considering many estimates put them at losing $200-300 USD per system sold, shouldn't this be expected even if the system were selling better? It will take game and accessory sales to each member of their fanbase to overcome the initial hardware loss.
SymetriX @ Jan 29th 2007 3:09PM
TYRANNOSAURUS!
...erm...shoot wrong team
Arno @ Jan 29th 2007 3:14PM
This thread FTW.
Flit @ Jan 29th 2007 3:16PM
"It will take game and accessory sales to each member of their fanbase ..."
Damnit! I knew we were forgetting something! - Sony's Gaming Division
sheppy @ Jan 29th 2007 3:21PM
What amuses me about this entire situation is... well, first off, I describe Ken as a cannibal killer in a Sony bashing thread and somehow I'm going against the grain... *sigh*
But anyhow, no matter how you slice it, PS3 will have a rough road ahead. Period. Each and every analyst is jumping in saying "things need to change" without any clue of how to make those changes. What, exactly, is the solution?
Let's put it this way.
Scenario 1: PS3 sells tons, no in stock units, meanwhile for each one sold, $200-$300 loss for the company as a whole. The granddaddy of money makers, memory cards, is rendered officially useless and likewise, only a few of the games go beyond the 2 player splitscreen so there is virtually zero push for the four controllers. And software? Well, let's just say it will take one hell of an attach rate to offset those losses. Meanwhile, BluRay movie sales are dramatically raised and likewise, licensing fees to Sony should start increasing as more studios push more movies onto the format. But likewise, PS3, no matter how well they are doing, remains a money pit and analysts hate that. They can't see beyond the launch period.
Scenario 2: Sony, desperate to regain some market share, starts pushing more titles out before they are finished. While this has the initial "more games" appeal, it will ultimately attach a negative stigma to the console since the QA Sony usually goes through for the heavy bangers becomes a thing of the past. Suddenly, games getting released in need of patches no longer becomes an Xbox 360 exclusive. Bad things abound but at least the analysts are happy.
Scenario 3: Sony dies and jumps out of the game industry. Microsoft and Nintendo suddenly become unchecked powers and things continue to downslide. Eventually Apple releases their game console and while it has a cool GUI and will work with your iPod, the longrunning bad blood between Apple and game developers impacts the console heavily and iGame dies prematurely... leaving a huge rift in the game industry.
Facing facts, PS3 isn't doing all that well. Okay, we get this. Eventually, and hopefully, things will begin to even out. I don't expect them to win this generation but I don't expect them to remain in this HUGE bottom rung. After all, while everyone is complaining about the failed PSP, I'm looking at a console that sold 22 million and thinking "failed?!? the fuck are they talking about?!?"
And all the analysts are making the predictions but absolutely refuse to gather up suggestions? Where can Sony win exactly? They drop the price, people see it as a sign signifying a console failure (see Japan when their price drop was announced) coupled with even more loss per console. Sony drops games faster, great solution... accept the quality would suffer dramatically. Ultimately, Sony just has to plug away on the games they are working on, looking at the industry very closely, and try to reduce costs enough to drop the price to 360 levels by next christmas when their real games start dropping.
Jahgah @ Jan 29th 2007 3:27PM
No No No.... Its:
Urrrrrth
Viiind
Fia
Whotur
Hurt
With you're powers combined I am captain planet.
(and you all definitely forgot)
GO planet!!!!!
(Gia must be pretty pissed at sony. Maybe their PS3 contains a lot of bad chemicals including the three Heat Pipes containing refrigerant.)
The power is Yours!!!!!!!!!
Derbeste @ Jan 29th 2007 3:28PM
I haven't laughed so hard at a blog thread in my life!
I am calling moonfire "captain" from now on.
btw....Captain planet will only help Sony if you summon him without using "heart".
Marty @ Jan 29th 2007 3:29PM
Why did they even release this last Christmas? They should have waited a full your for their triple A titles to be ready, while putting the last needed effort into pushing their still-doing-well PS2 brand. Why not spend the year promoting PS3 and finalizing PS2 with good games rather than having a terrible launch and sparse game releases for months? Was getting Blue-Ray out so fat really worth all this?
Marty @ Jan 29th 2007 3:29PM
*fast, lol
SuicideNInja @ Jan 29th 2007 3:32PM
I bought both a PS3 and a Wii this month so I can have all the consoles. The PS3 is the most annoying, frustrating, and pricey console I've ever purchased. I hate it, my room mates hate it, and nobody ever wants to play it. I thought Gears was over-rated, but Resistance is over-rated twice as much. Blu-ray doesn't impress anyone I've shown, and it's easy to say with confidence that it's not worth the money (for the general consumer). FFXIII keeps me hanging on...but I can't say it will be worth it. There's no games worth buying, and there won't be for a long time...a year is a long time in a console generation, especially when the competitors already have solid titles that gamers are dropping cash on.
The Wii has the exact opposite problem. The 360 is somewhere in the middle. I think the majority of solid games will go to the 360 and all the fun quirky games will go to the Wii. The PS3 will continue to scream until it's "Blu" in the face for the attention it will probably never get.