Sony pushes profitability goal back to 2013
by Justin McElroy 
{ Nov 19th 2009 at 10:15AM } 
As you might imagine, the PlayStation division is a big part of Sony's profitability strategy, and the company says it hopes to have that part of its business in the black by next year, partially on the back of digital distribution. Sony's targeting 300 billion yen (around $3.4 billion or 1.7 billion copies of the Andy Dick PAIN DLC) in digital sales by March 2013, which would amount to six times what it pulled in this year.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 19th 2009 10:18AM
Sony...good luck.
Though their Reader sales are insane-backed up through next year.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 19th 2009 10:47AM
why did he get downvoted?
the Sony e-reader really IS backed up like hell....that thing has been hard to find
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644523779
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 19th 2009 10:49AM
I'm a bit confused as well.
I saw that both the Reader and the Nook are backed up through next year.
The $199 Reader is a big part of that, I bet.
uncle jesse @ Nov 19th 2009 10:52AM
Maybe people are just tired of Bradwart's comments altogether?
BRAD OVERLOAD!
You're comments aren't bad or anything, it's just too much. Are we cool, Brad?
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 19th 2009 10:56AM
I'm still waiting on getting an e-Reader.....maybe another year or 2 for the prices to come down and a few more features to be added to them....
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 19th 2009 10:57AM
I picked up a PRS-500 used for 150 on eBay and loved it. But the tech is still a bit expensive, yes.
deaftly (PSN,LIVE,STEAM) @ Nov 19th 2009 11:37AM
Yeah every story has at least 15 comments by him, I don't hate ya or anything man but unplug for a bit.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Nov 19th 2009 11:38AM
WTF JOYSTIQ...THIS IS THE SECOND PLANETEER REFERENCE IN 2 WEEKS WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.
XBL: xGeneral DEATHx PSN: Deeth82 [Planeteer | Power of General Hostility and Angst] @ Nov 19th 2009 12:24PM
*Sigh*...for God's sake...
*Holds Planeteer ring high*
GENERAL HOSTILITY AND ANGST!!!!
*Blast Lines*
R (Planeteers | Power of Penile Pulse) @ Nov 19th 2009 2:34PM
PEEENILLLLEEEEE PULSSEEEE!
...itll make you feel better.
Trey @ Nov 19th 2009 10:22AM
Obviously by their powers combined, they turn into Captain Sony. Too bad he isn't as powerful as first season's backwards-compatibility wielding Captain Sony, but he sure slimmed up.
SaltyGary @ Nov 19th 2009 10:23AM
This is why Sony has struggled so much. They throw all their eggs in one basket with BR which deleyed rollout and kept the cost high. But when it comes to profitability their going to start relying on digital distribution.
"it hopes to have that part of its business in the black by next year, partially on the back of digital distribution."
If BR was optional they would of been in such a better position with PS3. Yes Yes I know but what about BR, who cares. DD FTW.
rickjamess04 @ Nov 19th 2009 10:29AM
At this point, its all water under the dam...No wait, I mean water over the bridge...
The point is, it would be a terrible idea at this place in time to take out the BR drive. If they want to create an 'arcade' PS3 with no wifi or HDD, then thats fine. But I think with the recent price cut the sales are finally where they need to be--so cutting the BR drive would be stupid.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 19th 2009 10:31AM
Well, they really can't pull out the BD drive...seeing as all the games are written on the Blu-Ray format...
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 19th 2009 10:31AM
uhhh option Blu-ray? and deal with more piracy of PS3 games? as well as add even MORE confusion with the SKUs....AND have more shipping cost due to games like Uncharted 2, GT5, MGS4 and FF13 being on numerous disc?
right....
then on top of that Blu-ray was not backed SOLELY by Sony....THATS WHY ITS STILL AROUND....they only PARTLY created it and PARTLY created the BD Association....and thereby only PARTLY ate the cost and are pretty much reaping all of the benefits....
Viking @ Nov 19th 2009 10:34AM
If it wasn't for blu-ray the PS3 would be a weaker 360, and how would that be better?
The 'unlimited' disc-space has given developers much more freedom if they so choose to, and you can't have a console where such a thing is optional.
Sony was just ahead of it's time in some ways, and now they're paying for it, it's nothing more to it. The PS3 itself is optional.
Warlock @ Nov 19th 2009 10:49AM
The PS2 was weaker than both Xbox and GameCube last gen, and yet it was king.
Power is not really important. If they had ditched Bluray they could have beaten 360 to the market at a cheaper price and most likely ridden the coat-tails of PS2's popularity wave.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 19th 2009 10:54AM
but had they not put blu-ray in it they couldn't say "it only does everything" now could they?
also they would have lost the "war"
SaltyGary @ Nov 19th 2009 11:25AM
Ruh Roh I should have come back sooner...
My BR optional comment was really meant for when the PS3 first came out. They are in no position to do something like that now and I believe it would very confusing if implemented.
If they did it in the beginning they could of gotten a lot more people in at a smaller price point and gave them an optional upgrade.
Warlock @ Nov 19th 2009 11:39AM
I got what ya meant SaltyGary. But yeah, they can't do anything now, Bluray is already integrated completely into the PS3. Well... unless they came out with the PS3Go!
Elranzer @ Nov 19th 2009 11:44AM
"The PS2 was weaker than both Xbox and GameCube last gen, and yet it was king. "
Seems like the "weakest" console is always the winner each generation...
NES vs Master System
SNES* vs Genesis
PS1 vs N64/Saturn
PS2 vs Gamecube/Xbox
Wii vs PS3/Xbox360
Gameboy vs GameGear
Gameboy Color vs NeoGeo Pocket
Gameboy Advance vs NGage
DS vs PSP
* (SNES was more powerful than the stock Genesis, but the Genesis had those crazy "32-bit" add-ons SegaCD and 32X that gave it the extra push).
tenor77 @ Nov 19th 2009 12:05PM
I just find irony about Sony betting the farm on BR, lost massive heaps beating HD, and now their hopes of being in the black is banking on..........Digital Distribution.
Truth is stranger than fiction.
PSN: John-Paul-Jones (click for last.fm profile!) @ Nov 19th 2009 12:13PM
@ SaltyGary
First of all, you're in no position to speak because you're a well known PS3 flamer here, what with you calling PS3 owners "sony ponies" and other bullshit. Optionally remove the blu-ray drive at the cost of quality game development? That's the mistake Microsoft made: optional HD-DVD and a small harddrive size. Look where that got them and look at the games that got gimped back then and even up to now just so the developers can cater to the 9.5 GB Xbox 360 crowd. At this point, digital distribution is NOT viable for consumers because of the ISPs greedy as fuck charging us with high prices in return for low download speeds. Would the PS3 users really want to download 50 GBs worth of Metal Gear Solid 4 or 25 GB of Uncharted 2? And please, don't bring up the Netflix "1080P" streaming because we all know it isn't the same TRUE 1080P and TRUE Dolby Digital/DTS 5.1 & 7.1 channel quality that Blu-ray right now can reasonably provide. Digital distribution IS coming, but it's going to take A LONG time before Blu-ray steps down because right now Blu-ray is the most feasible and MAYBE the last major storage format available to the consumers.
Warlock @ Nov 19th 2009 1:22PM
"That's the mistake Microsoft made: optional HD-DVD and a small harddrive size. Look where that got them"
Umm, ahead of Sony the majority of this console generation? I really don't see what you're arguing here.
PSN: John-Paul-Jones (click for last.fm profile!) @ Nov 19th 2009 1:53PM
^
I was referring to more quality games with that quote instead of a profit which I think Sony wanted more in the long run
JayVe @ Nov 19th 2009 3:51PM
"Well, they really can't pull out the BD drive...seeing as all the games are written on the Blu-Ray format..."
Well, that didn't stop Sony from doing exactly what you described with UMD.
SaltyGary @ Nov 19th 2009 4:48PM
Wow saying the phrase "Sony Pony" 3 times on a message board early in the summer really struck a nerve. People need to lighten up and your response only gives more strentgh to a really stupid phrase.
Any hoo the general console owning public doesn't give a crap about capacity size of media, they want fun games to play and at this point both consoles are doing a great job.
Sony was slow out of the gate because of BR. Whether you think BR is the best or whatever, BR is the reason PS3 took so long to get where it is now. Developers had to figure out how the games integrated with the media. Access rates on the games were slow enough where owners had to install games on the HD to get better load times and most importantly it gave the PS3 a bad price point at the wrong time with the recession.
PSN: John-Paul-Jones (click for last.fm profile!) @ Nov 19th 2009 5:18PM
Despite me calling Sony Pony "bullshit," it has been stuck in my head because it was refreshing calling PS3 owners something new. Sony! Pony! Oh, and it rhymes! What more could you want?
tmacairjordan87 @ Nov 19th 2009 10:24AM
"Apparently unwilling to accept the cold, hard scientific fact that the world will end in December of 2012"
How do you think I feel, it's supposed to end on the 21st...a day before my birthday!
Pretty much looks like Sony won't be making any money until next gen, unless they pull the same shit as they did this gen. In which case I would have to sigh and preorder God of War 4 on the xbox 720.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 19th 2009 10:52AM
uhhhh Sony will be making money BEFORE Next Gen....as Next Gen most likely wont start as early as people are thinking....even if Nintendo releases their next Console in 2011 thats STILL not going to be Next Gen...why?? I seriously doubt Nintendo will make something that tops BOTH the PS3 & 360 in what it can do and even if it does it won't be better than the Next PS or XBox
Vcize @ Nov 19th 2009 12:55PM
The 21st is also a Friday, and the Friday before christmas no less.
The freaking Mayans couldn't have picked like, the Monday after christmas instead?
uncle jesse @ Nov 19th 2009 10:24AM
They are really putting a lot of stock in their new 3D televisions, too. I'm really curious to see how that all pans out...
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 19th 2009 10:26AM
I'll be first in line. I love my current Bravia.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 19th 2009 10:33AM
while I'm not going to jump and get the first or even 2nd gen 3D TVs I am interested to see how damn good they look....and then around 2012 I'll jump on board when I can get a 60" 3D LCD TV for only $1,800
Duke @ Nov 19th 2009 10:49AM
I'm gonna go with Chris on this one. I don't want to jump on that bandwagon until I see its been fleshed out totally and the prices come down a ways.
XBL: xGeneral DEATHx PSN: Deeth82 [Planeteer | Power of General Hostility and Angst] @ Nov 19th 2009 12:48PM
Being an early adopter has typically sucked for me...sure, you can show all your friends what you've got, but by the time they get theirs, they've bought the nicer model for less and yours breaks shortly thereafter.
And there is your daily dose of cynicism, folks.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 19th 2009 10:26AM
with games like LBP, Critter Crunch, Fat Princess, & Pain they can EASILY rake in a ton of money from digital distribution.....
also take into account that Movies also fall under that digital distribution blanket of funds.....and can easily get there as well if they go back and release classic shows.....i.e. Walker Texas Ranger....that will make a KILLING!!!
all in all the American Dollar strengthening will help ALL Japanese companies fix there profitability as well as the global economy as a whole getting back on its feet....
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 19th 2009 10:34AM
Yeah, that's an important thing. The Japanese need a strong Dollar and a weak Yen to get back in line.
Heston @ Nov 19th 2009 10:36AM
Yay...blog sarcasm.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 19th 2009 11:15AM
people don't seem to get that Darth....they just think its cause "Teh PSTREE is SUX0RZ!!"
at any rate....like I was saying about the TV shows....I was DEAD ASS SERIOUS....
They Release Good Times, Sanford & Son, The Jeffersons, 227 or Different Strokes on PSN and I will buy ALL OF THEM!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Television_series_by_Sony_Pictures_Television
REP96st @ Nov 19th 2009 1:26PM
Dang... I never seen someone Sweat sony so hard before!! Dang chris, you so Blindly follow and buy EVERYTHING sony?? Wow. Please tell me you own stock!
You do know that there are other Electronic hardware companies out there that are just as good or even better than sony, right? From your pic you seem to be a grown ass man, stop clinging to H.Stringer's nutsack!
There's a sony fanboy, and then there's You. You're a sony FANatic!! Chill!
ITS. NOT. THAT. SERIOUS!
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 19th 2009 2:05PM
uhhhh Everything Sony? no...only thing Sony I will EVER OWN is PlayStation....and MAYBE a Walkman if they get their shit together.....
How you figure I like everything Sony dude?
3dpenguin @ Nov 19th 2009 10:39AM
2008-2013 unprofitable??? 5 years till profitability??? They do realize by that time there will probably be a new XBox and a new Nintendo right, both of which will probably still outsell their gargantuan mistake which has become the PS3...
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith-ATDF Co-Founder @ Nov 19th 2009 10:42AM
They're japanese...their concern is the BIG picture.
If the predicterators are correct, Sony will push a second gen version of the Cell with the Intel Larrabee chip for the PS4, which means much lower development costs...aka more longterm profitability.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 19th 2009 10:44AM
you DO Realize that Sony sells WAAAAAAAAAAAAY more than JUST PlayStation.....right??
i.e. the HD Cameras that film the NFL Games....
Spider-man 4 AND 5 will BOTH be out by then....both could EASILY break box office records as WELL as the Blu-ray releases could break sales records....
Nintendo & MS having new consoles out by then will affect nothing......not to mention that the PlayStation Division will be in the Black NEXT year(early 2011 at the latest)....
nukee @ Nov 19th 2009 10:46AM
You know they're talking about Sony as a whole here right? They make a lot more than Playstation.
That being said, Darth is right. Japanese corporations tend to look for long term viability, unlike US corporations who make questionable choices for short term benefits.
Duke @ Nov 19th 2009 10:56AM
Funny how people act like the consoles are the main reason these companies exist and they are in some dire war with each other over the consoles too...never mind their alliances for the other things they make like computers, software, cameras, etc. My wife and I were laughing when we saw a Windows 7 commercial that had all Sony equipment, computers and tvs, being shown in a man's house. Yeah, they are all at each others throats....gaming is just one division in much larger companies portfolios.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Nov 19th 2009 11:07AM
for real tho duke....like all Sony Vaios are going to SUDDENLY only run Linux or something.....lol
3dpenguin @ Nov 19th 2009 11:26AM
Ok, Sony in general.
PS3, has yet to show a profit, every time it starts to Sony buggers with the system and its back to the red.
Blu-ray, has yet to show profit, the PS3 is still the most prominent Blu-ray player in use today, even though there are many many good options out there most people aren't making the predicted exodus to Blu-ray from DVD as SONY promised they would once the format war was over.
TVs... Well this is a joke in its self. Sony (and most other LCD manufactures) can no longer rip of VIZIO for its cheap pannel manufacturing since VIZIO went to public sales, so Sony is having to buy/make more costly LCD (remember Sony nolonger supports flat screen rear projectors and plasma) and slap the Sony monicor on it and hope people buy, and they aren't they are going to cheaper companies like Vizio Sharp and Toshiba more and more, and even Sony's often partner in crime Philips/Magnavox is stealing their busines.
Sony Games, nuff said when Sony is tacked onto it. With most of their resorces going into developing exclusively for the PS3, and compleatly ignoring larger markets like say the PC, this company hasn't run in the green in years, add to that SOE and their buying up and converting popular MMO games into blaitant rip-offs of other games and then running them into the ground with SonyStation, this branch could use some trimming... with a chain saw.
Sony Ericsson, in case you missed it Ericsson is doing so well they can afford to lay off atleast 1600 employees world wide.
Right now the only thing keeping Sony afloat is their BoD's egos.
Funny thing about that picture, 4 of the 5 are thinking "If this doesn't work I'm going to have to commit Seppuku", the 5th is thinking "I'm hanging out with these guys because it makes me feel like a big man." Can you guess which ones?
Elranzer @ Nov 19th 2009 11:47AM
Not to mention the new Nintendo system will be profitable from Day 1, like every other system they've ever released (since all Nintendo sells are video games,, they need to be profitable at all times).