Reuters: Sony may post $1.1 billion loss
by Alexander Sliwinski { Jan 13th 2009 at 8:45AM } 
It was already expected that Sony would be cutting thousands of jobs and closing manufacturing plants, but an analyst quoted in the report believes the company will now "further accelerate its restructuring." There's no word on how the PS3 and PSP divisions of the company will be affected. The silver lining in this for consumers is that the PS3 is rumored to receive another price drop in the next few months.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jack Tretton @ Jan 13th 2009 8:51AM
Third prize is you're fired.
Whoops, wrong article.
oolz @ Jan 13th 2009 9:48AM
lol, being 3rd in every market except the smallest one (japan) isn't the road to happines
Bleu @ Jan 13th 2009 10:14AM
Every company is losing money because of the state of the global economy...But when the economy picks up again so will these companies...I am just sorry at the people that are losing their jobs because of poor management on the economic side.
David @ Jan 13th 2009 10:59AM
I haven't heard that Microsoft or Nintendo are losing money, though you're right that that may change this year.
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Jan 13th 2009 1:43PM
you didnt see that article about Microsoft cutting thousands of jobs? it said the Xbox division was largely unaffected but it does show that the bad economy is hurting everyone.
and Nintendo hasnt really been affected because if you look at it, they are on top of the gaming world right now with the DS man handling the handheld market and the Wii cruising in the console department. they have no problem because their products allegedly print money.
LaughingTarget @ Jan 13th 2009 9:00AM
A PS3 price drop is defenitely not the way to go at this point, especially with the US Dollar going into the toilet. The PS3 was priced in the US market when the Yen was trading at 120 to the dollar. Now, the Yen is at 89.66 to the dollar. For anyone with any shred of mathematical inclination, that's a huge loss just from currency trade.
I'm not sure what Sony is thinking right now, but cutting prices when we have an incoming President and more than willing Congress that's hell bent on destroying our money supply through "stimulus" packages, cutting prices is the wrong move when dealing with US markets. When the Yen will likely trade at around 60 or even 50 to the dollar by the end of this year, a price drop will only dig Sony deeper into the hole.
Doug @ Jan 13th 2009 9:21AM
But remember, the Yen is still weaker than a US$.
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 13th 2009 9:26AM
well isnt someone a "God Fearing John McCain Voting American"
In A World (XBL) @ Jan 13th 2009 9:36AM
@Doug: "Yen is still weaker"
No, the dollar is weaker. Don't let the conversion rate throw you off. Right now, a candy bar that's 89 Yen, you would expect to pay $1 for. However, if that same 89 Yen candy bar is $1.25 or $1.50 (as is becoming the case more and more), that means the dollar is weaker.
Altairio @ Jan 13th 2009 9:41AM
Yeah, they should keep charging what they're charging and sit on all that inventory that isn't moving.
WRE @ Jan 13th 2009 11:00AM
Killjebus,
You're as ignorant about politics as anything else, can't say I'm surprised though. Let's see, which President never launched a successful military operation and presented such a weak face to the world that terrorist groups no longer feared American reprisals? Which President started the housing rush that's currently crippling the worldwide economy? Say what you will about Bush, but he inherited a shit ton of problems that just hadn't ripened yet.
zygote55 @ Jan 13th 2009 11:29AM
I'm so confused... Why is LaughingTarget getting down-voted? As somebody who has a degree in Economics I can tell you everything he said is absolutely dead on.
However, I still expect Sony to make PS3 price cuts.
Levi @ Jan 13th 2009 11:54AM
Wow WRE, I never thought I'd see a "B b b b but Clinton!" on a Joystiq thread. Good job.
WRE @ Jan 13th 2009 12:12PM
What? Nobody wants to contest the point? Just vote me down for blaming everyone, not just the current administration? How much is CNN paying you guys? Can I get in on it?
Levi @ Jan 13th 2009 12:24PM
I'll contest your point after you confess how much FOX News is paying you!
Ghaleon @ Jan 13th 2009 12:31PM
You forgot that anything a Democrat does is awesome! At least that's what it works out to when people rely on their party to think for them.
"Obama's economic actions are because Clinton had a surplus and Bush started wars!" lol
WRE @ Jan 13th 2009 12:35PM
C'mon Levi, I'm not championing the Bush administration, I just want everybody to be fair and balanced. But if you really want to know...they pay me in oreos.
Levi @ Jan 13th 2009 12:43PM
Wow, that's cool. All I get for my efforts is Kool-Aid :)
zuburi @ Jan 13th 2009 5:46PM
"Let's see, which President never launched a successful military operation and presented such a weak face to the world that terrorist groups no longer feared American reprisals?"
Bush, right?
R @ Jan 14th 2009 12:25AM
WRE is right.
People hate Bush. A lot.That's because most people are civilians, and about 99% of all the good stuff Bush has been doing is rated Top Secret security clearance or above.
I will tell you this much. Dozens upon dozens of terrorist attacks on the U.S. have been stopped since 9/11. You just never hear about it. You also never hear about how more people have clean water and electricity in Iraq than did before we went in there.
Heres another little shocker for you. Yes, Im just another dumbass on the internet, but take from this what you will.
It is my humble belief, given what I know (and I pray to whatever God there is that Im wrong), that a major U.S. city, like Philly, NY, LA, will be destroyed by a thermonuclear bomb detonated by terrorists within the next 5 years.
Again. WRE is right. Bill Clinton slacked, or made the wrong choice. He did great things for the economy, wonderful things. But his time in office gave our enemies time to regroup and rearm. There was one point when we HAD BIN LADIN. The U.S. military had him! And Clinton said "let him go."
The economy is the least of our problems....
And for the record, I hate both McCain and Obama. On my ballot for President, I did a write in of "Optimus Prime." No joke.
LaughingTarget @ Jan 14th 2009 10:54AM
I got voted down pretty much on the premise that there is no such thing as a stimulus package. Polling currently trends that the so-called "stimulus" is a good idea among the average American. They simply don't understand how a money supply works, how an economy works and how Governments don't actually make anything so any attempts to stimulate any sector requires resources to be taken from somewhere else. Because of this, Governments cannot stimulate the economy on the whole via spending practices. The only thing a Government can do to stimulate an economy is to do less and tax less.
We don't get voted up by being right, we get voted up by being popular. What I say is unpopular in times when the public is beginning to panic and looking to elected officials as the saviors. Sad reality is that this will only make things worse, Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's policies only proved that (despite common belief, Herbert Hoover started the New Deal program, FDR just took them further). Japan tried it throughout the 1990s and they now call it the lost generation. The Nikkei still hasn't recovered to their 1989 high, which was entirely because of what our current elected officials are going to do. This will be America's lost generation and Sony needs to see the fact that they'll not benefit by trying to price things to our weakening market. It simply won't be to their advantage.
nate @ Jan 15th 2009 12:25AM
in most markets a price drop usually means more sales, its more about trying to find an equilibrium price between the supply that they have and the demand for blu-ray/ps3, so that they can make the sales they need.
xFenixKnightx @ Jan 13th 2009 9:10AM
I remember I used to only buy Sony products. TV's, car stereos, home stereos, surround sounds, etc. For some reason all those changed to Samsung.
SoulBlade @ Jan 13th 2009 9:37AM
That's because Samsung makes pimp TVs at a lower price. I love my Sammy TV.
xFenixKnightx @ Jan 13th 2009 9:46AM
As do I. :)
AwesomeTown @ Jan 13th 2009 9:57AM
There was no beating the original Walkman.
xFenixKnightx @ Jan 13th 2009 9:59AM
True that!
Karen @ Jan 13th 2009 10:02AM
I use to buy Sony products too until my third Sony car stereo broke along with the Amp, I couldn't get a decent pair of headphones to last more then a month, and their sales people in the Sony stores started lying customers. In the 90's they made some good AV equipment at decent prices. Now my TV's from Panasonic, camera is a Canon, and I have a NAD receiver with PSB speakers.
Vcize @ Jan 13th 2009 10:16AM
As do I.
But I also bought my mom a Bravia and it is extremely pimp in its own right.
Duke @ Jan 13th 2009 10:28AM
I have the same trend going on with buying less Sony as of late. I think their tv's have largely been too expensive over the last few years, so I haven't grabbed one. I really had to shop to find the best price on a Sony receiver in order to justify the purchase too. Oh, and I too love our Samsung tv!
People bust on the PS3 price point, but it seems that Sony has a lot of equipment that is priced higher for the mass market than the direct competition. It seemed to me that they have always had slightly higher prices in order to convey a feel of better quality. Of course, their quality in my experience has been pretty flawless.
Levi @ Jan 13th 2009 10:38AM
Samsung is the best quality for LCD's for the price. I must say, though, that Sony's high end TV's do have better picture quality regardless of the fact that they are overpriced
TeDwArD @ Jan 13th 2009 12:25PM
not because im a sony fanboy or anything. but in my opinion i would wait just abit more so i can afford a sony tv,radio etc. samsung werent so good to me when i had them
deaftly @ Jan 13th 2009 1:31PM
dude! my 5.1, vcr!, and tv are samsung and totally badass (vcr not so much)
Johnbot5k @ Jan 13th 2009 9:13AM
Ouch.
nick @ Jan 13th 2009 9:20AM
A price drop for the PS3 is inevitable and this would be the year to perform one. I don't think the PS3 division will be affected beyond what they're already doing. For example, they're not really securing exclusives, beyond what they're doing internally. And they've already done bundles, which isn't really working everywhere because of-- well pricing. No, I think a price drop is necessary.
Where Sony IS likely to be affected is on other product lines. Would not be surpised to see a reduction, consolidation, or removal of a lessor performing part of their business. MP3 players comes to mind.
Levi @ Jan 13th 2009 10:46AM
I agree with your opinions on price cuts, but not with your views on securing exclusives. They have plenty, just none that have made quite as big of an impact as the Halo trilogy.
David @ Jan 13th 2009 11:06AM
They have exclusives this year, but I don't think any of them are newly secured. Most of the PS3's big exclusives are freebies from a time when developers still thought the PS3 would dominate. Sony Studio exclusives don't count as being "secured" though they are their strongest titles this year.
nick @ Jan 16th 2009 1:42AM
By exclusives, I mean third party exclusives. GTA could have, no-- should have been a timed exclusive on the PS3. Instead third parties are signing exclusive arrangements with Microsoft.
Anything first party obviously is exclusive, but I consider that internal, and not something that ever had a chance of appearing on another system.
J.Goodwin @ Jan 13th 2009 9:25AM
I really want to see follow up on this post when they announce this guy's multi million dollar bonus package.
J.Goodwin @ Jan 13th 2009 9:25AM
Change guy to crook.
Lee @ Jan 13th 2009 9:27AM
Changed.
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 13th 2009 9:36AM
Stringer isnt a crook.....lol.....
in MOST cases I'd agree that a CEO has been skim something off the top......but up until THIS year he Had pretty much Turned Sony around profit wise as compared to BEFORE he got there......
NaeemTHM @ Jan 13th 2009 9:28AM
It's cool guys! In 10 years the PS3 will start turning MAAAAD profit. Then who will be laughing!? Sony that's who!
err....you know....if their still around.
NaeemTHM @ Jan 13th 2009 9:32AM
...you ever post a comment, then wish you hadn't because you're afraid no one will get the fact that you're just joking?
Before you take away all my precious, precious hearts please remember 2 things: The internet is not always serious business and I'm almost up to Ganon and I have no fairies!
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 13th 2009 9:41AM
joke or not.....the PS3 isnt wasnt causing Sonys troubles......its the Yen against the weakened US dollar and the economy.....fail.....proceed to be blasted into oblivion......
Levi @ Jan 13th 2009 10:54AM
I enjoyed the Zelda reference
Metkis @ Jan 13th 2009 10:57AM
My advice? Don't worry about the silly heart system and just go with it. Even if people didn't get your joke it's not going to ruin your reputation.
I wouldn't be surprised if my own comment went one way or another for comedic effect (I dare you guys!).
Prof_Chaos @ Jan 13th 2009 10:14AM
I think part of their loss will be their support of Blu-Ray this year. It's very expensive to push a format, especially a competing one, early. I expect Sony will start to see an upswing this year from that. I don't expect the PS division to really be the main problem here or the cause for their return.
SoulBlade @ Jan 13th 2009 10:20AM
As much as this sucks for them, holy crap for being profitable for 14 years!
I think you're on the money though - anytime you push a new bleeding edge tech, you pay huge costs for manufacturing and usually sell at a loss. Blu-Ray definitely contributed to that.
More so, they're getting serious competition in the HDTV space - when a common consumer walks into Best Buy and sees all of the TVs next to each other, they'll look pretty much the same and it's all about the price point at the time.
The fact that their PS3 is getting cheaper to manufacture and Home (supposedly) raked in 1mill in a month is probably a good sign that the PS division will stick around.
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 13th 2009 10:21AM
they pushed Blu-ray the year before as well........and its actually MORE profitable now than it was when first launched since prices for the diodes and other parts of the blu-ray player came down......the SCE prolly came out positive mostly thanks to the PS2......but its moreso the strengthening Yen.....