Is Sony Sabotaging the PlayStation 3 Console and Blu-ray?

[wicked insanity]

Washington Times writer Sonny Bunch has released a very http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/12/sabataging-the-sony-playstation-three/ saying that instead of trying to bolster the PS3 and Blu-ray as much as possible, Sony is hindering and sabotaging the system and the format. Sounds crazy, right? Well, he actually makes a few good points.

First of all, he criticizes Sony because in these bad economic times, instead of releasing a cheaper console, they released a more expensive SKU:

We're dealing with the worst economy since the Carter years. Deflation looms. Businesses desperately need a big holiday push to boost the bottom line. The Nintendo Wii remains the most popular system in the land, and, at $250, isn't necessarily a budget buster. Xbox 360 has made serious inroads by dropping the price of its core system to $199. So how did Sony respond?

By releasing a new version of the PS3... that's $100 more expensive. Yes, it comes with a game, and yes, it has more hard-drive space, to which I respond: Who cares? Was the marketplace clamoring for more memory from the PS3? Is that why its market penetration is so low compared to its predecessors and competition? What were the Sony execs thinking?

I agree with the author fully on this point. Releasing a more expensive SKU in this economic climate wasn't the best decision in the world.

Then, he goes on to blame Sony for not including Netflix streaming abilities in their console:

Now consider the following facts: Samsung has just released a Blu-ray player that will stream Netflix movies. (In other words, you can pick a select number of movies from the Netflix library and watch them instantly on your TV.) The Xbox 360 has just added the same capability.

How does Sony respond? By allowing PS3 owners to stream Netflix movies? No, that would make too much sense. Instead, Sony said Netflix couldn't stream any title from Sony's library to the Xbox. That'll show 'em!

I don't agree with this point somewhat because we have no idea whether or not some type of exclusivity deal was made between Microsoft and Netflix that would keep the service only on the Xbox 360. However, Sony could always court Blockbuster and their online service, so he may have a point.

And lastly, he faults Sony for their marketing of Blu-ray, saying that the customer is still very ignorant about the service:

Sony also has done a terrible job of marketing Blu-ray players as a whole. Consumers don't seem to understand the benefit Blu-ray offers to owners of large standard-definition (SD) DVD collections. I have had conversations with reasonably tech-savvy people who didn't realize Blu-ray would upconvert the image of an SD-DVD to near-HD quality.

Sony and the rest of the Blu-ray manufacturers need to implement a radical shift in their marketing strategy: Hammer home the fact that not only will their new Blu-ray player play high-definition movies, it also will vastly improve the picture quality of their previously purchased libraries.

This is where I disagree with the author mostly. He says that people are so ignorant about Blu-ray players, citing an example of someone telling him they bought an HD-DVD player (after the formats demise) because he "wanted something that would play old DVDs".

I think Sony has done everything they can to market Blu-ray; just look at Best Buy. Walk into that store and you are fully blasted by Blu-ray marketing. The consumers that don't understand the format now must be living under a rock because it is being advertised everywhere, and one of the biggest features that I've seen in the advertisements is the players' ability to upscale DVDs.

So all in all, some of the author's points are valid, particularly the one regarding the expensive SKU. However, the current state of the economy is a much bigger factor in the lower than expected sales of the PS3 and the lower install base of Blu-ray, not Sony "sabotaging" the system. That's just a little melodramatic. More PlayStation 3 News...

[Starlight]

Bottom line is the cost, sony needs to lower the price of the ps3 which i mentioned a while back already, not sure why sony is stubborn in this area..but you know sony they think profit which they are not making much on the ps3 which i understand, but if they lower the price more ps3's will sell and poeple will buy the games and add on's which thay can make some money back on.

Sony = on the price right now..

[tilla]

The Netflix thing is patently false in this article. The Playstation Video Store provides way more selection than NetFlix does to Xbox360, even excluding the Sony products.

[sorceror]

Bottom line is the cost, sony needs to lower the price of the ps3

They're scared to. They've already lost a bunch of money on the PS3... money they hope to make back with game sales eventually, but a few hundred million here, a few there, and soon you're talking real money.

If Sony won't cut the price, they need to aggressively advertise that theirs is 'all inclusive' and you have to add a lot of stuff to the 360 to get it to the same level. That's their only hope for now. Maybe the rumored spring price cut will come fast enough...

[BlingOnMyWrist]

If Sony won't cut the price, they need to aggressively advertise that theirs is 'all inclusive' and you have to add a lot of stuff to the 360 to get it to the same level.

Very true. I have yet to see any PlayStation 3 ad. Though, the only channels I watch are Discovery and History... Just trying to fill myself with useful information, not MTV. (Did anybody know that MTV stands for Music Television?) Back on topic: On these two channels I view, I see at least one Xbox 360 ad every hour or half an hour.

Maybe I'm really not watching the right channels or Sony just doesn't advertise their product.

[xxLindenxx]

freaking sony.. why can't they understand, can't anyone tell them to wake up or else the ps3 will die!

[budzio]

Why will it die? because there is no ads in TV? How often do you see Mercedes or Ferrari adverts? It is common marketing strategy- people think that luxury goods do not need ads...

[darkhellsatan]

First of all "SORRY FOR MY HORRIBLE ENGLISH"^_^

I live in a third world country where you must work very hard for live, and this console cost about US$750 (the salary of a month is about US$230) however i thinks that this is not too expensive; for me, i repeat... for me, i don't know what you think, the problem is that the ps3 is an extremelly well done machine, and for be more specific, i refer to the security aspect, two years has pass and the ps3 can only read original discs; is not a secret that a thing that boost sales is the capacity to run backups (not everyone want's or earn enough money to pay for a US$25-60 game that can complete in a couple of hours in most cases).

I'm 100% sure that when this magnific machine may run backups, the things will change, then we could say that we have the best machine.

[DMagic1]

The Netflix thing is patently false in this article. The Playstation Video Store provides way more selection than NetFlix does to Xbox360, even excluding the Sony products.

He's talking about the free streaming of select movies to netflix customers not the movies avaliable for a price from the systems video library.
Not to metion when you pair the netflix selection with the 360s existing library that makes for a pretty large selection.

[31ken31]

Netflix is all that its cracked up to be, sure the home service is nice but the streaming doesnt offer much to be desired.