The PS3 will quite probably be a bit of a flop, with reports of problems with the cell processor and poor developer tools (and claims of pre-rendered demos). MS had dropped blu-ray in favour of hd-dvd, and Sony batteries burn laptops like thermite. The question must be asked: Is Sony Doomed? Will a PS3 failure be the death knell for Sony?
No, they're too big to die because one product flopped, as much as many of us would like it to be otherwise. Like it or not, Sony will be around to screw our grandchildren on the PlayStation 15
but WILL they? Nobody is going to comission batteries from them anymore, their gaming consoles are weak and their propietry formats are ignored.....Maybe I should change my question to be: Will a ps3 failure be the death knell for Sony?
I think if PS3 fails it might change the way sony operate, but Sony will stilll exist. They have a reasonably major record label, and they have expensive electronics equipment in many a shop, as well as things like the playstation. Above all, Sony can't die because the name Sony is worth a lot. If the poop hit the fan enough for the then all that'd happen would be some other company would buy and use the name. As CT says, Sony are gonna be around for a long time, at least in one form or another.
There is nothing wrong with the cell processor, they have much higher yeilds than expected. BluDiode manufacturing was the problem. There not that bad, and they've always been like it on PSX/2
not according to ElReg, one of many articles across the web, btw. Again, not so. Have a look on google. And I forgot to mention that EA signed that little deal with MS to say their games will be ut on xbox 12 months before anyone else....
Wireframe: thats the inquirer and this has been discussed before, the Cell processor won't read from that "local memory" much at all. Local memory is not what you think it is in that slide, I think its the graphics local memory.
One product? What about the librie, Clie, Net MD, Betamax etc. Sony has had quite a few failures over the past few years, and their share price has fallen by 7.3% compared to an average gain on the Nikkei of 1.8% in the last six months alone, by missing the crucial christmas market in Europe - a larger market than the us - Sony have shot themselves in the foot. The forecasts are that the share price will continue to fall and considering that Sony have reduced their estimate to 2 million units being shipped before the end of 2006, this will probably be the case.
To play devils advocate (again) i think this whole disccusion has been widely skewed by the likes of the inquirer and our own dear Bit who seem to have launched on an anti-sony, anti-ps3 crusade lately. None of us have used a PS3, i doubt many on here program for it yet everyone declares it to be rubbish and difficult to program. When you push technology you have problems and imo Sony should at least be applauded for trying something different. On paper Blu-Ray IS a technically superior product to HD-DVD and has a lot backing with in the industry. Wait for the console to come out and then decide if its good or bad and if you dont like it, dont buy it. Is Sony doomed? No way, but their video game division might be. [edit]btw Betamax was better than VHS and Avid, the pro video editing/production system, is based on betamax. [/edit]
...not to mention that the Clie's were in many ways superior to the concurrent Palm PDAs. And let's not forget the Walkman, the Discman, the Plasma TV (in conjunction with Phillips), and the fact that they make the sexiest PC laptops to date (OK, since Bootcamp it is the Apple Powerbook ). In fact, anything small and electronic that Sony makes is sexy. Take their digital cameras for one. We should also not forget the PS1, which made game consoles mainstream cool, the PS2, which has been doing quite well, thank you, and the PSP which people have practically been killing each other over.
Sony has several companies, the PS3 is made by a separate company to the main Sony. As is Sony music, films and so on. All separate so they can fold without effecting the other companies. I know the Sony that sells the TV's and so on is in trouble at the moment. Lots of staff where let go in wales and i think they intended to cut the number of staff in Europe by half a few years ago over a 10 year period. They missed the whole LCD and Plasma TV thing and had to have there panels made by another company. Sony also doesn't actually have a market research department, they just make products and hope there is demand for it. Look at there previous attempts at MP3 players, they all flopped horribly until the current model. There are plenty of other stories, but the company in general is doing badly, the console side also made less out of the PS2 than predicted, the PS3 doesn't look too promising etc. Chances are they will never close, but they aren't half performing poorly at the moment.
To think that one failed product could topple an enormous, diverse corporation like Sony (one of the largest in the world) strikes me as a bit naive. Sony owns (or holds a stake in) companies manufacturing semiconductors, entertainment electronics, a record label, financial services, television/film production and various other industries. What proportion of their revenue is tied directly to the Playstation? Not much.
I think that is less to do with being in trouble, than with quality control. The European Sony staff don't know jack. They're dumber than a sack of squirrels (I'm sorry, but they are), and their customer service is notorious. It is WAY below the standards that you would see maintained in Japan. So Sony may well have decided that performance was unsatisfactory and not worth the investment.
No it wasn't about quality control. They just didn't stump up the setup costs, as they wanted to wait for HD. Customer service wise it depends if you are talking about the Sony shops, as these are nothing to do with Sony. They are just a shop who only sell Sony and thus get reasonable costs. Other than that no connection at all. The European staff are far more than customer care, do you forget how many thousands of staff they have in Europe? With less than a percent being customer care based. In Europe they view the Japanese as the lesser staff. They are still very traditional (no women in directorial roles in japan and very few in Europe (directors are usually rubber stamped by japan)) to the point of Japanese women bowing to men when they walk past them, even when they are working in Europe (seen it first hand). You will also not find many if any older women as they usually leave when they get married. The Japanese just produce product and expect it to sell. They don't do market research, they just expect it to sell and Sony Europe to sell it too. I could ramble on for ages, but trust me Sony as a company is something i know plenty about.
Maybe a top design team beats any market research team? Sony aren't the first Japanese company to find the Brit work ethic unsatisfactory. And the British juvenile male attitude to girls on the shop floor leaves a lot to be desired. I've seen that first hand too.
I am not saying the British Sony employees are perfect but overall i would not describe them as "dumber than a sack of squirrels". Either way Sony are loosing lots of money. Lots. They have been for a while now.
You could probably count the amount of companies that manufacture there own LCD or Plasma panels on two hands. The panel only makes up part of the picture, the electronics which drive it are just as important. Sony develop their LCD panels in partnership with Samsung yet their (Sony) Bravia range of the LCD tv's are superior to Samsungs.
Yes not many firms make there own, but Sony wrongly thought HD panels would already be in widespread use by now with TV signals already turned over by 2005 i believe from memory. Sony is also large enough to have easily have done it there selves. The point is not about quality, but about the lost of cost.
