Sony America publisher relations senior VP Rob Dyer has admitted this week that the PSP Go handheld “confused” buyers, and that sales have struggled.
Acknowledging another long-time criticism, Dyer says the expensive $250 price has not helped sales any, with the cheaper PSP-3000 model handily outselling its newer brother.
“Yeah, I think the higher price point didn’t help matters any,” Dyer said, via IpodNN.
Since the release of the PSP Go, Sony has done nothing but lose market share to the DS/DSi, and even the iPod Touch, which are cheaper and have big fan bases.
Result for: sony america
According to Sony America President Kaz Hirai, the company is set to take a loss on every Slim PS3 unit sold.
The console was launched last week after months of speculation, and will hit on September 1st with a pricetag of $299 USD/ 299 EU/ £249 / 29,980 YEN.
“If you’re just talking about the hardware alone, the quick answer is yes,” Hirai added, via the Times Online.
He did note afterwards however: “That makes good headlines, but I don’t actually know that that’s the true nature of the business that we’re all in, whether it’s PlayStation, Xbox or the Wii. I think the better indicator is to look at the business as a whole platform, to ask: are you profitable in terms of the hardware, software and peripherals. And the answer to that question is yes on a gross profit level since the last fiscal year.”
Result for: sony america
According to Sony America boss Jack Tretton, the company is preparing to expand their PlayStation business further into South America, marketing their consoles more in Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.
The company hopes to make $750 million USD in regional sales for the fiscal 2009 year.
At the same time, Tretton added that the PlayStation Network now has 24 million accounts worldwide, but a small number from South America.
Moving to more general facts, Tretton applauded the aging PS2, which still manages to make brisk sales despite being almost a decade old. Tretton says 100 titles will be released for the console in 2009.
