How much trouble is Sony in?

[daroga]

This is not some Nintendo or Microsoft fanboy crying OMG TEH SONY SUX0rzzz!!!LOLBBQ!!!!one. This is a legitimate question, a "what if...?" based on some likely events.

We know for a fact that Sony as a whole is not doing well. Their entertainment division led by the Playstation brand is doing fine, but the rest of Sony as suffered in the last several years.

It's obvious that the Playstation 3 will be delayed, perhaps until November (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/03/14/breaking-news-ps3-delayed-until-november/) even in Playstation-happy Japan (tomorrow will probably shed light on that situation). That is not really a problem, as such, because the PS2 is such a strong system that they ought to be able to float themselves on that till the PS3 comes along. Or can they?

With the appeal denied (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/03/13/sonys-appeal-denied-fate-of-dualshock-uncertain/), it's a very strong possibility that Sony will have to pull the PS2, along with many accessories and top-tier games from shelves in the US. There goes that bridge. And what ramifications will this have on the PS3? How much of the controller tech now has to be reworked? How much of the backwards-compatibility is going to have to go back and be retooled to use a new vibration protocol?

Is the PSP, whose sales are only barely keeping up with the Nintendo DS in the United States and getting iced by the DS in Japan (http://www.dsfanboy.com/2006/03/13/japanese-hardware-sales-lites-out/), potentially Sony's only option for making money in the lull between now and the PS3's launch? What will this dip in income mean for Sony being able to float the inevitable loss on the PS3 hardware? Certainly some PS2 software will still be sold, but would that coupled with the PSP be enough to keep Sony going?

Discuss (intelligently only, please).

[crazytalkx]

OMG TEH SONY SUX0rzzz!!! ROFLCOPTER!!!!

No but I'm glad the DS is doing great but I was looking forward to the PS3. Oh well, still a lot of games I have left to play until then. Although Halo 3's release might coincide with the PS3 launch now, oh sheeznit.

[dmes65]

Sony should have done what M$ did and paid the fine and bought a share of that company. I think Sony is in for some trouble this year with the 360 and revolution. It will be good for us the consumers with all of the new choices.

[ryanbph]

Sony should have done what M$ did and paid the fine and bought a share of that company. I think Sony is in for some trouble this year with the 360 and revolution. It will be good for us the consumers with all of the new choices.
Didn't msft pay the fine, and then buy a ton of stock from the company with the dual shock idea?

[daroga]

Didn't msft pay the fine, and then buy a ton of stock from the company with the dual shock idea?
That's what he said... that Sony should've done that.

[dcfox]

This is an uneducated question, but would not being able to sell the PS2 itself be that big of a loss to Sony? Since they lose money on the console sales but make it up on software, shouldn't the revenue from the software sales alone be enough? If that's the case, they have more than enough big releases to last till November.

[Apossum]

sounds bad..but c'mon, will they really have to take the PS2 out of stores?

[daroga]

This is an uneducated question, but would not being able to sell the PS2 itself be that big of a loss to Sony? Since they lose money on the console sales but make it up on software, shouldn't the revenue from the software sales alone be enough? If that's the case, they have more than enough big releases to last till November.
That's one thought I've been rolling around in my head. I mean, there are many, many consoles in the US already. It's too bad we don't get detailed system sale numbers here like they do in Japan. I'd be curious to know how many PS2s sell in a given week.

sounds bad..but c'mon, will they really have to take the PS2 out of stores?
If the court order isn't overturned, yes.

[Reality's Fringe]

I've said it before and I'll say it again; Sony is becoming a victim of their own pride. They're at the same point Nintendo was prior to the N64(treating certain devs like shit, being hell-bent on a certain game format etc). The denied appeal just shows the poor decisions Sony has made of late, and I only see worse things to come before this whole Blue-Ray thing is over. That being said, if Sony can win the format war (which is what they're trying to do) then they'll be laughing all the way to the bank. It's hard to say what'll happen, but I don't think they're going anywhere anytime soon.

On a side note, the whole lawsuit thing is stupid to me:

Guy from Immersion: "Your honor, I created this. It is solely based on my own ideas. You see this little gizmo, it's not exactly symmetrical so when it goes all spinning and whacky it makes the controller shake. I learned it from Newt-uh, a dream."

Judge: "My God, this is surely the result of many years of equations and research! It's so specific that there can be no variations, only exact copies!"

As for the blow Sony will take from not being able to sell Ps2s, reread the article. Not only can they not sell Ps2s, but neither can they sell controllers, and they even had to stop selling some of their most popular titles. Additionally, didn't Sony plan on lowering the Ps2 to $100 with special accessories to combat the Revolution? If so, that's not a good thing.

[Apossum]

this is most definitely the work of that evil M$ corporation. They set it all up knowing the arrogant sony would fight it. They had themselves sued in order to cover it up. It's all true. I'm looking forward to another 100 years of mediocre FPS and Blinx bwahahaha!

[dcfox]

That's one thought I've been rolling around in my head. I mean, there are many, many consoles in the US already. It's too bad we don't get detailed system sale numbers here like they do in Japan. I'd be curious to know how many PS2s sell in a given week.
I imagine since the install base of the PS2 in NA is about double than what it is in Japan, then maybe its weekly sales could be double that of Japan's weekly sales, ~40,000-ish? Not exactly scientific, just a guess on my part.

Also I think you're understating the PSP's performance. The DS may have it beat, but sales of the unit have been on par or better than that of the PS2. PSP games have also been slowly creeping into the Japanese top 10 as of late. Just remember that how a system does in terms of its competitors is irrelevant to its profitability. A vital defense for the success of the GC ;)

[daroga]

I imagine since the install base of the PS2 in NA is about double than what it is in Japan, then maybe its weekly sales could be double that of Japan's weekly sales, ~40,000-ish? Not exactly scientific, just a guess on my part.

Also I think you're understating the PSP's performance. The DS may have it beat, but sales of the unit have been on par or better than that of the PS2. PSP games have also been slowly creeping into the Japanese top 10 as of late. Just remember that how a system does in terms of its competitors is irrelevant to its profitability. A vital defense for the success of the GC ;)
True enough. Is there any info on the hit that Sony takes on each PSP sold, or the profit they make on each unit? I've done some searching and not found a whole lot.

[RelentlessRolento]

I say it will be a large bump in the road for them, but nothing serouse since there are some good options for them to choose from in terms of choices of what they can do to fix alot fo their problems. It's going to take alot more than other factors to make them totally loose.

[RedvsBlue]

Repost

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84543&highlight=sony

[Francis]

Why the hell can't certain games be sold? "A few dozen games, including Vice City, Final Fantasy X, and Metal Gear Solid 2." Is it because they use feedback? I would think then that all games would have to be halted since pretty much all of them have some sort of rumble feedback...

[daroga]

Repost

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84543&highlight=sony
The PS3 is only a part of this topic. Not a repost. Thanks for your concern.

[ryanbph]

I've said it before and I'll say it again; Sony is becoming a victim of their own pride. They're at the same point Nintendo was prior to the N64(treating certain devs like shit, being hell-bent on a certain game format etc). The denied appeal just shows the poor decisions Sony has made of late, and I only see worse things to come before this whole Blue-Ray thing is over. That being said, if Sony can win the format war (which is what they're trying to do) then they'll be laughing all the way to the bank. It's hard to say what'll happen, but I don't think they're going anywhere anytime soon.


I agree with just about all your comments on sony, and yes they could laugh to the bank with the blue ray, I just don't see that happening. If you are going to get the same visuals from the hd dvd, then why pay more for the blue ray. While it might be useful in the future, but the amount of space available at this time is pointless. I barely look at the extra shit now on dvd, what else can they put on all that space, that will entice me to buy an expensive unit, and a more expensive blue ray disc of a movie. They should have found a way to come to terms with toshiba on merging the blue ray and hd formats. That way, when it doesn't become popular for several years, they would have a partner to swallow the losses with them. I do love my sony lycos tv though.

[suffah]

Regarding the money Sony is losing on every PS2 unit sold...aren't they at the point where they're at least breaking even by now? I have not looked at actual numbers but I would think that a company should be at least breaking even at this point of a product's life cycle...unless the price cuts were monstrous I guess.

It's impossible for Sony to not release the PS3 before the holiday season. I really doubt they'd be willing to give up that much ground to the 360/rev. But they've made a lot of bonehead moves so who knows. I for one don't really care either way. I probably won't buy a PS3 until it drops to $299 anyways (2009?). :D

[dmes65]

You would think that Sony would have learned from there mistake releasing the PSX. There gonna price themselves out of this console war. It's gonna be a awesome machine but in the end all I want it for is to play games on. Go M$ and Nintendo.

[botticus]

Regarding the money Sony is losing on every PS2 unit sold...aren't they at the point where they're at least breaking even by now? I have not looked at actual numbers but I would think that a company should be at least breaking even at this point of a product's life cycle...unless the price cuts were monstrous I guess.
If they are still losing money on their systems 6 years after launch, then that's ridiculous. But yeah, who knows.

[Blind the Thief]

If North America doesn't see the PS3 until 2007, this will be exactly what Nintendo needed to gain a strong foothold with Revolution here. Sony's only chance was to blow it out of the water by flooding consumers with so much hype and advertisements that Average Joe had no idea what a "Revolution" is, or perhaps make it seem like a kid's toy in comparison.

With PS3 probably delayed here until after Nintendo launches this November, Sony's machine is going to feel positively dated after consumers have had their hands on Nintendo's new games for months ("Oh, you're still playing the old way."). Without PS3 this holiday season, the Revolution will undoubtedly become the hot item, and even people that have been saving for a PS3 might get sucked in (plus, at the supposed $200 or so, it works far more as an impulse buy than any other next-gen system).

Admittedly, I'm a Nintendo fan first and foremost, but I love my PS2 very much, too. I don't want to see Sony fail, and I'm not sayign it's going to...I'm just excited because this looks to be just the helpful nudge Nintendo needed.


And to answer your earlier question, Daroga, I don't really think the PSP can keep the company afloat for very long. DS is absolutely smokin' it in Japan, and with Metroid Prime Hunters (an online FPS, of sorts), New Super Mario Bros. and the inevitable launch of the DS Lite here, I think North America is going to be talking about nothing but the DS for the next few months.

[graf1k]

Regarding the question of why only certain games would have to be pulled if this court order is upheld, I think it might be because those specific game actually have a dual shock controller featured in the game (I'm pretty sure there was a PS2 in MGS2 but not sure about the others), although if that's why, it seems that would be pretty easy to remedy.

Anyway, as for the situation of the PS3 and Sony's business in general, this was definitely not a good week for them. With them now confirming that the PS3 won't launch until Nov. 2006, a lot of people that were thinking of holding off on a 360 might cave once they are readily available again. That said, it was really Sony's only option because if they showed up at E3 with still no set date, or waited until then to say "Oh yeah, BTW it's coming out in November now" they would have run the risk of pissing off a lot of objective gamers. As for the controller ruling, that's definitely another bump in the road for Sony and enough small bumps can derail even the best laid plans. That said, unless it is no longer an option, Sony will probably try to settle out of court again, even if it costs them double or triple what it would have way back when because not being able to sell the PS2 is not an option for them right now.

[radjago]

Sony has been gaining ground in the HDTV market, thanks to their superior LCoS and CRT products. LCDs are selling well for them too.

[Blind the Thief]

With them now confirming that the PS3 won't launch until Nov. 2006, a lot of people that were thinking of holding off on a 360 might cave once they are readily available again.

I think Microsoft's dropping the ball almost as bad as Sony is, at this point. It's 4 months after your system's launch, and your biggest threat just announced a delay that means you'll be in the clear for almost a year...and you still don't have systems available to those that want them?

[graf1k]

I totally agree with you on that. It was there for the taking for MS and they fucked up big time.

[rodeojones903]

Sony has been gaining ground in the HDTV market, thanks to their superior LCoS and CRT products. LCDs are selling well for them too.


Yeah, were I work Sony sets outsell all other brands easily. Their new LCoS is amazing.

[graf1k]

Not that this has anything to do with Sonys health as a company, but the awesomeness of the LCoS you are refering to (the SXRDs), is completely undercut by the fact that it doesn't accept naitive 1080p signals, even over HDMI. That's just stupid. The next model fixes that though, but it's a dumb mistake to make in the first place.

As for Sony HDTV sales, last I heard they were being slaughtered by cheaper Korean makers like Samsung, LG, ect. That may have changed though.

[Thunderscope]

The article I read said if Sony loses they will have to pay 90million to the company and pay to license immersions properties, if they dont do that THEN they have to pull their PS2 and redesign it.

[botticus]

The article I read said if Sony loses they will have to pay 90million to the company and pay to license immersions properties, if they dont do that THEN they have to pull their PS2 and redesign it.
I would assume they'd have to pay up no matter what their course of action is if they lose, considering they've made money off someone else's IP for the last 5 years. Then it makes sense that they would either have to pay licensing fees or pull their product.

[radjago]

Not that this has anything to do with Sonys health as a company, but the awesomeness of the LCoS you are refering to (the SXRDs), is completely undercut by the fact that it doesn't accept naitive 1080p signals, even over HDMI. That's just stupid. The next model fixes that though, but it's a dumb mistake to make in the first place.

As for Sony HDTV sales, last I heard they were being slaughtered by cheaper Korean makers like Samsung, LG, ect. That may have changed though.
I agree that HDTVs with 1080p capability but no way to get a signal to it is absurd. Not that there are a whole lot of 1080p sources out there, but it's something nice to have for the future.

As for their success, according to this article (http://www.twice.com/article/CA6315300.html) Sony is cleaning up in the LCD market with their Bravia line. With their joint venture with Samsung, they can get the parts cheaply and charge a premium for the Sony name.

[Ecofreak]

The PS3 will be fine this holiday season - all units will be sold out and Sony won't be able to meet demand.

So really, a Halo 3 launch at November may be pointless. Perhaps it would be better to hold it until a point in time when PS3 are in ready supply, thereby producing a greater impact.

And do to be honest, if the Revolution launches w/ a Metroid Prime that includes free online multiplayer, even Halo 3 would be eclipsed.

[graf1k]

As for their success, according to this article (http://www.twice.com/article/CA6315300.html) Sony is cleaning up in the LCD market with their Bravia line. With their joint venture with Samsung, they can get the parts cheaply and charge a premium for the Sony name.

Interesting. I hadn't seen that. Can't argue with the facts.

Personally when it's time for me to buy an LCD (I was thinking of going for one of those SXRDs, but like you said, there is so little 1080p content right now, and I don't plan on buying any Blu-Ray discs until they are 'DVD cheap') if it's between Sony and Samsung and everything being equal but the price, I'll definitely take Samsung. It's basically the same deal as the Dell Widescreen flat panels v. the Apple Cinema Displays. The screens they use are exactlly the same, but one is maybe a little sleaker and has more premium name, so it costs almost double.

[dafoomie]

The Immersion lawsuit is overstated and will have very little to do with how Sony does as a company.

Sony needs PS3 and Blu-Ray to do well, they've staked their future in it. If they both bomb, they're toast. That said, I only think one of them really has a chance at bombing, Blu-Ray. PS3 should at least do ok on branding alone.

And by toast, I mean in bad shape and looking to sell off units. The shift away from CRT to LCD and newer tech will help the bottom line for sure. There is one thing I'd like to see them change, Sony branded products outside of their high end stuff haven't been any good for 10 years. Sony is a brand that people associate with quality, they'll pay more for it. But it really hasn't been true for the most part lately. They shouldn't put the Sony name on this low end crap, its a shortsighted move that'll help them move low margin low end stuff, but it'll hurt them in the long run.

[GizmoGC]

Its funny when I rad various articles today how much I thought about posting a topic similar to the OPs.

Sony announces the ndelay of PS3. But wait, we have a new PSP revision coming out!!!! Now PSP is $199!!!!! WTF?

Didn't Sony themselves say they would not be lowering the price of the PSP? That they didn't see Nintendo (aka DS and GBA) as a threat due to different demographics? Yet a week after the DS Lite launch in Japan (A revision of a year and a hald system) selling BETTER then the initial PSP launch, they got scared.

HURRY! We must announce new PSP! Smaller, Lighter, oh yeah, you can download and purchase games onto the memory stick! Oh yeah, PS1 Emulator!

Are they trying to make people forget about the PS3 launch? Will Nintendo and Microsoft both get a jump on the generation in comparison to the last (Xbox and Cube launching within weeks of each other)? Who knows...

[wubb]

As long as Sony makes this Xmas season for the PS3 in the US I don't think the delay will hurt them much. If they let the 360 have a 2 Xmas head start that could be trouble. But really I wouldn't be shocked if Sony were to delay the PS3 to '07 and it still kicked the 360's and Rev's butt.

[ryanbph]

And do to be honest, if the Revolution launches w/ a Metroid Prime that includes free online multi player, even Halo 3 would be eclipsed.

I agreed with everything you said up until this point. That was a good one, besides the fact that the 360 will have a much larger installed base, didn't metroid prime 2 launch a week later, I don't remember that having much of a splash vs halo 2. The sales number for that holiday season was . From ign


The Bungie-developed first-person shooter sequel sold 3.6 million units for Xbox in the US through December 2004, in just two months matching life-to-date numbers for the original game, which released in 2001 and has remained an Xbox best-seller ever since. Incidentally, the original Halo sold 783,000 units during its first two months of release.


Data gathered by the NPD Group through December 2004 shows that approximately 470,000 copies of Prime 2 were sold to GameCube (http://cube.ign.com/articles/579/579600p1.html#) owners. By comparison, the original Metroid Prime sold more than 722,000 copies during the same period in 2002.



While metroid is a great game, making speculations that it could outsell halo 3 is a stretch, never mind the fact that the 360 will have a much larger installed base.


On topic, the sxrd TV that i have is great. I love the 50" that I bought a couple of weeks ago.

[botticus]

I think his point with that was it would be eclipsed as far as excitement and fanfare at the day of launch. No doubt (even if this were true) that Halo 3 would then outsell it ridiculously.

[Snake2715]

I agreed with everything you said up until this point. That was a good one, besides the fact that the 360 will have a much larger installed base, didn't metroid prime 2 launch a week later, I don't remember that having much of a splash vs halo 2. The sales number for that holiday season was . From ign


The Bungie-developed first-person shooter sequel sold 3.6 million units for Xbox in the US through December 2004, in just two months matching life-to-date numbers for the original game, which released in 2001 and has remained an Xbox best-seller ever since. Incidentally, the original Halo sold 783,000 units during its first two months of release.


Data gathered by the NPD Group through December 2004 shows that approximately 470,000 copies of Prime 2 were sold to GameCube (http://cube.ign.com/articles/579/579600p1.html#) owners. By comparison, the original Metroid Prime sold more than 722,000 copies during the same period in 2002.



While metroid is a great game, making speculations that it could outsell halo 3 is a stretch, never mind the fact that the 360 will have a much larger installed base.


On topic, the sxrd TV that i have is great. I love the 50" that I bought a couple of weeks ago.

Good bit of info but I think the free onoline was his point.. In reality we wont see what kind of effect that will have until Hunters launches on the DS here soon.

[ryanbph]

online play is great, free is even better, but are you trying to tell me that is why the 2nd one bombed in comparison to the first prime game on the cube? The 2nd one was good, but in comparison, did not sell as well as the first one.

[Sarang01]

I imagine since the install base of the PS2 in NA is about double than what it is in Japan, then maybe its weekly sales could be double that of Japan's weekly sales, ~40,000-ish? Not exactly scientific, just a guess on my part.

Also I think you're understating the PSP's performance. The DS may have it beat, but sales of the unit have been on par or better than that of the PS2. PSP games have also been slowly creeping into the Japanese top 10 as of late. Just remember that how a system does in terms of its competitors is irrelevant to its profitability. A vital defense for the success of the GC ;)

It also doesn't hurt that from what I saw when I was in Japan PSP games were cheaper than DS games.

[camoor]

Anyone else think that Sony's excuse was particularly poor strategy?

Sony: We're delaying the PS3 to make sure we can cram as much DRM as possible.


** speculation **
Gee thanks Sony, can you assure me that the PS3 will not be able to be integrated with ITunes/ripped CD music, place more internal regional locks that will be even harder to mod out, put limits on the number of machines a game disc can be played on, and take an additional 6-8 months perfecting this pile of anti-consumer DRM?
** speculation **

[graf1k]

They aren't 'cramming in more DRM', they are 'waiting for the Blu-Ray DRM to be finalized'.

[zionoverfire]

It would be really interesting if the PS3 never actually launches, for the price they keep talking about you could get a decent low end computer.

[WebScud]

I agreed with everything you said up until this point. That was a good one, besides the fact that the 360 will have a much larger installed base, didn't metroid prime 2 launch a week later, I don't remember that having much of a splash vs halo 2. The sales number for that holiday season was . From ign


The Bungie-developed first-person shooter sequel sold 3.6 million units for Xbox in the US through December 2004, in just two months matching life-to-date numbers for the original game, which released in 2001 and has remained an Xbox best-seller ever since. Incidentally, the original Halo sold 783,000 units during its first two months of release.


Data gathered by the NPD Group through December 2004 shows that approximately 470,000 copies of Prime 2 were sold to GameCube (http://cube.ign.com/articles/579/579600p1.html#) owners. By comparison, the original Metroid Prime sold more than 722,000 copies during the same period in 2002.



While metroid is a great game, making speculations that it could outsell halo 3 is a stretch, never mind the fact that the 360 will have a much larger installed base.


On topic, the sxrd TV that i have is great. I love the 50" that I bought a couple of weeks ago.

If you're trying to be to combat specualtion with more specualtion....yeah. :roll:

[Ecofreak]

I agreed with everything you said up until this point. That was a good one, besides the fact that the 360 will have a much larger installed base, didn't metroid prime 2 launch a week later, I don't remember that having much of a splash vs halo 2.

I think you fail to see my main point - Metroid would more than likely make full use of the Revolution controller, making the FPS actually FEEL like a FPS as opposed to Halo's conventional control scheme. Add in free online multiplayer and what does this game have that the next Halo doesn't?

Furthermore, both the system and the game itself would be cheaper than the MS counterparts. So, again, I think that if anything Sony would have more to fear from a Revolution Metroid than a Halo 3 if this should somehow ever be an issue.

[FriskyTanuki]

Add in free online multiplayer and what does this game have that the next Halo doesn't?
I'd say the name "Halo," but the rumors are that Halo 3 won't either. :lol:

[Revenantae]

Sony is not in as bad shape as it sometimes seems. Part of the problem is that Sony has been investing in new technology... HEAVILY. A couple billion on LCD fabs was spent with Samsung. A billion or so more in Cell development and fab equipment. Another fat pile of cash on Blu-Ray. More money on Movie studios. Etc. Etc. Etc. The bottom line looks grim simply because their cash outlay has been ENORMOUS.

Gues what? It's going to get worse looking for a while too. Sony will be taking a significant hit on the PS3 when it releases. In short, their going to be looking like an ugly investment for at least the next 2 years. The question is whether the investments will pay off.

LCD: This one's going to pay off HUGE. No question. When it comes to monitors and TV's there is no substitute for a good LCD. They look that much better.
Cell: Who knows? If it startds getting picked for HD equipment, as Sony intends, this could pay off handsomely as well. Even if it's just for the PS3, if sales are in the PS2 league, it'll be all good.
PS3: There has been some major ball droppage going on here. However, it would only take an HD remake of FFVII to ensure the PS3's success.
Blu-Ray: Despite all the kids (who couldn't afford one anyway) talking about not needing HD, HD is picking up steam and fast. If you haven't seen one, take it from me, an HDTV makes the limitations of the DVD format glaringly obvious. It's between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray here. Blu-Ray has some big players on their side, and Sony's not inconsiderable studio assets. If BR becomes the format of choice; Sony FTW.

In all, sony's placing some huge bets on the future.... no one can say now how things will turn out. Just wanted to point out that the numbers look bleak now because Sony's isn't playing for a quick profit this quarter, they're playing to OWN the next decade.

[ryanbph]

I think you fail to see my main point - Metroid would more than likely make full use of the Revolution controller, making the FPS actually FEEL like a FPS as opposed to Halo's conventional control scheme. Add in free online multiplayer and what does this game have that the next Halo doesn't?
.

a very large fanbase;)


I wonder how the delay with effect multi platform games. There was speculation that DOA4 for the 360 was delayed due to the lack of consoles out. With the high cost of development, would companies want to release a port onto the ps3? if there isn't a userbase to make up the cost of development/porting.

[epobirs]

The Immersion suit has little bearing on anything for consumers. The PS2 and associated items will not be pulled from the market. If you follow business news this sort of threat is presented with great regularity but actual enforcement is extremely rare.

A company of Sony's size contantly has a standing army of lawyers in litigation, both for and against the company. The typical policy is too fight it out as long as possible because this is relatively cheap and sometimes you might even win. One example is the recent settlement of the RIM vs. NTP case. If RIM had been able to drag things out another year it is entirely possible the PTO would have invalidated so much of NTP's pertinent patent portfolio their case would have fallen apart. As itworked out RIM ran out of time and had to settle for an amount near four times greater than the first offer NTP made. That original settlement offer also included substantial royalties on RIM revenues well into the future, so the massive settlement may still be the cheaper route in the long term.

When it comes to the point where Sony cannot win and must either pull their products or settle, they'll settle. It's as simple as that and similar cases play out every year. Most of them involve matter too esoteric to catch our attention.

Immersion, IMHO, has a far stronger case against Sony than NTP did against RIM.

At this point I'm inclined to believe the PS2 hardware is profitable at $149. It could possibly see another die shrink and further integration but it is already far, far less costly to produce than it was originally. Any time Sony feels PS2 sales aren't providing sufficient continued growth for the platform they can cut the price to $129 and still not lose money. For a really big sales boost they could go right to the magic $99 and probably still be close to break even.

That Sony hasn't seen fit to do so indicate they arent feeling any great pain on the PS2 front. The next major price break is probably intended to coincide with the PS3 launch to offer an alternative to the impoverished who have still yet to enjoy the current gen offerings and cannot afford the newly launched PS3. Those new customers may not be much help for new top line titles but can add a lot to the bottom line by limiting themselves to the Greatest Hits library. Getting them invested in PS2/PS1 games makes them a bit more likely to see the PS3 as their natural upgrade a few years later.

[Ecofreak]

a very large fanbase;)

Touche, you may have me on that one. And while I don't know what the sales figures are (they could be very similar for all I know), it seems that the Halo fans are a great deal more vocal than the Metroid fans. ;)

[epobirs]

On the PSP issue, getting outsold by the DS is not in of itself a mark of failure. To a large extent the two products are targeted at different audiences. Much of the market looks at them as two items to choose between but big segments find appeal in one the other lacks and vice versa.

The challenge for the PSP remains the same as always. Not to beat Nintendo on their home turf but to define a new market segment for portable gaming and media devices. If Sony saw Nintendo's handheld market as the sole target the PSP would almost certainly have a very different design allowing for a more competitive price point. Eliminating the optical drive would be the biggest step in that direction. Having instead just a pair of MS DUO slots, either accepting games on ROM or Flash Memory for save games and other data, would have made up a big part of the price difference. But this would also have given up the advantages of cheap optical media for attracting game publishers and movie studios.

So Sony tried to play the high end. The question isnt whether they do better numbers than Nintendo but rather if they turn a profit on the whole investment. Sure, Sony would love to rule the portable gaming world but for now it is enough to have their own sovereign power that doesn't run in the red.

Technically, Sony hasn't cut the PSP price. They just eliminated the accessory bundle US consumers were given as the sole way to buy the PSP.

[XxFuRy2Xx]

Actually I believe the rest of Sony (electronics) is doing a lot better, especially the in the hdtv market.