Tech Check
More Videos
MOST SHARED
- Users of Citibank Bill-Pay App Charged Twice
- US Trade Deficit Swells to $48.8 Billion on China Gap
- Rep. Bachus Faces Insider Trading Probe: Report
- Euro Sags, Risk Appetite Softens on Greek Deal Holdup
- What's Shaking: Friday's Early Movers
- Israel Likely to Bomb Iran This Year: Political Analyst
- Will Romney Regret Opposing Michigan Auto Bailout?
- FBI Investigated Steve Jobs Drug Use
- Greek Aid Deal ‘Much Better’ Than Euro Exit: Summers
- EU Finance Ministers Won't Get Fooled Again
- Bank of America’s Worst-Case Scenario Gets More Real
- Tesla Unveils First SUV: Model X
- New York Fashion Week Hits the Runway as Colors Pop
- Mulling Buffett's Stock Advice? Get in With REITs: Fund Managers
- LinkedIn Earnings Bode Well for Hiring and Social Media
- Top Five Mistakes to Avoid in Online Dating
- Victor Cruz ‘Understands’ Gisele's Super Bowl Frustrations
- Tamminen: The United States of India
- Unusual Volume: Taleo Jumps After Oracle's $1.9 Billion Offer
- Consumer Sentiment Falters, Despite Job Growth
- Greek Aid Deal ‘Much Better’ Than Euro Exit: Summers
- Bonus Bloodbath: Europe Banker Backlash Continues
- US Trade Deficit Swells to $48.8 Billion on China Gap
- Stocks Looking Past Europe for a New Driver of the Rally
- SEC Reaches Settlement in Bear Stearns Fraud Case
- Israel Likely to Bomb Iran This Year: Political Analyst
- EU Agrees Rules for $700 Trillion Derivatives Market
- The World's Best Beers
RSS FEED
Sony's PS3 With Blu-ray Gets Back As A Player
Text Size 
Silicon Valley Bureau Chief
 |
AP PlayStation 3 |
] sold over 100,000 PlayStation 3 units last week, calling the results "the breakthrough we've been anticipating." That performance more than doubles Sony's previous sales performance of about 40,000 consoles a week. Analysts attribute the surge to Sony's decision to cut the price of the 80 gig version to $500 and the roll-out of the new $400, 40 gig PlayStation 3 model.
Couple all that with word of continuing supply issues at Nintendo's [NTDOY
Loading...
()
] Wii and Sony just might have a chance at recapturing some momentum in the console business as we head into holiday shopping. Says Stringer: "It's a little fortuitous that the Wii is running out of hardware."
So far, Nintendo has shipped 9.3 million Wii's, a figure that should balloon to 22.3 million units by the end of its fiscal year next March. Sony's sold 5 million PS3's as of last month; Microsoft [MSFT
Loading...
()
] : 11.6 million Xbox 360's in the two years it has been available.
Sony's price-cut news of course may also be good news for Sony's Blu-ray high def platform, since that player is built into every PS3. But remember, when retailers like Walmart [WMT
Loading...
()
] and Best Buy [BBY
Loading...
()
] slashed prices on the Toshiba-backed HD DVD players during a one-day sale a couple of weeks ago, Blu-ray supporters seized on the move as a "fire sale" by that platform's backers to unload inventory nobody wanted. I disagreed.
Now that Sony has cut the cost of the PS3, its move is being lauded as a brilliant strategic move to boost sales of the otherwise under-performing PS3 that hasn't met initial sales goals. I don't get it. Seems like both sides are cutting costs to spur sales. Period.
The fact is, Blu-ray is vastly outselling HD DVD simply because it is embedded in the PS3. But that's not necessarily such a vote of confidence for the platform since NPD released a study saying as many as 60% of PS3 buyers weren't even aware there was a Blu-ray player in the device.
HD DVD is still the market share leader when it comes to "standalone" next-generation players sold at retail. And the price-chasm, in HD DVD's favor, is still there. I've said it before: this will be the most important few months in the dueling formats' young history. Total market penetration remains tiny, meaning huge opportunity remains. For one side or the other.
In our very unscientific survey from last week, 63% of you said you'd delay your next generation DVD purchase because of this format war. Increased sales of the PS3 are important, for the game-player. We'll see if they matter for the DVD wars as well. But as this war drags on, it's getting clearer that the debate is something the industry won't be able to afford for very much longer.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
