Digital Journal — Sony has announced its long awaited PlayStation 3 game console will be delayed by six months because of delays in completing its next-generation optical disk technology.
With a release delayed until in November 2006, some analysts say rival Microsoft could see a boom in sales of its popular Xbox 360.
Sony and Microsoft are the two big players in the $25 billion videogame industry.
Until today, Sony has said its PS3 will launch sometime in the “spring” but rumours and gaming forums have long talked about delays beyond spring. The head of Sony’s video game division, Ken Kutaragi, hastily called a news conference to confirm the console would be delayed.
“There were many things going on and it was rather frustrating but now it is more clear,” Kutaragi said about the delay in development of new technology. “Now we have decided early November is the time for the launch.”
The console will go on sale in North America, Europe and Japan at the same time. PS3 will become the first console Sony has launched simultaneously in major markets. Kutaragi says the company will aim for production of one million units per month. Also, Sony expects to have about six million consoles in the market by March 2007.
The PS3 launch is a critical step in Sony’s attempts to recover from profit slumps under CEO, Howard Stringer. Kutaragi made the announcement in Japan only after markets were closed, but Sony stock fell only 1.8 per cent in the day’s trading — a sign investors have long anticipated the news.
“I’d like to apologize for the delay,” Kutaragi said. “I have been cautious because many people in various areas are banking on the potential of the next-generation DVD.”
Kutaragi says the company is still trying to finalize copyright protection technology for its long-awaited Blu-ray DVD disk. Blu-ray will be the format for its upcoming PS3 console and standard for the next generation of products to be released by Sony.
Despite the negative impact of delaying the PS3 launch, it will allow Sony to include the latest version of the high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) in the console. HDMI is a digital interface for high-def video and connectors for the format are already found on many TVs. Newer versions will support higher speeds and more colour.
PlayStation 3 can be used as a Blu-ray DVD player and the unit is backward compatible to read games from PS1 and PS2. The unit will also have a hard drive, broadband and wireless Internet connections and support for HDTV.
Sony’s PlayStation is currently the dominant video game brand for home consoles, as Sony has sold four times more PS2s than Microsoft’s original Xbox.
But despite its success with PS2, Sony now has to contend with Xbox 360 which Microsoft launched last November. The 360 has been hugely popular, and with a one-year lead on Sony, some say it could tip the scales in Microsoft’s favour. Other analysts, however, argue the winner of the console war will likely be determined by pricing and game software lineups rather than the timing of release.
