Can The Playstation 3 and Blu-ray Save Sony?

After Sony announced job cuts for it's electronic division, Katsuhiko Mori, fund manager at Daiwa SB Investments, said in an interview with the BBC: "Sony doesn't have any core businesses that generate stable profits". But will the Playstation 3 console be able to help Sony?

Although some people may point this woud that ever since the Playstation 3's release back in 2006, it hasn't been making a profit. And that it because of the rather odd but simple fact that Sony are selling the console for less than it costs to make. And it's been like that since the release date, Sony dropped the price of the console on purpose so that they could try and break into the market.

However, it may seem odd, but Sony has use this tactic every time they have released a console, even though the competition was tough, they did it with the Playstation 3.

Their plan is that they released a high specification console into the market at a loss, but because of the spec, the console will last many years, making them profit some years on. But will it work this time? With high pressure price reductions of the Xbox 360, and the new market of the Nintendo Wii, will Sony manage to cope and make enough money to cover their losses?

The biggest problem is that the price of the Playstation 3 console will not be reduced until Sony begin to make a decent profit. However as the consoles price is alot higher than the other consoles on the market, they won't get a huge section of the overall console sales, which, in turn will cause them to loose money for longer.

Although it sounds a bit rough for Sony, they do have one advantage up their sleeve, Blu-ray. It was fortunate for Sony that Blu-ray won the DVD battle. If HD DVD had won the battle, it would have been worse for Sony as their console would not have any edge over the competitors.

So, currently, it's not looking good for Sony, and with their release of Playstation Home being criticised by Microsoft and founder of EA, Trip Hawkins. Both of them have stated that Sony's latest attempt at creating an online community is not directed and outdated.

Senior manager at Xbox 360 game console division, Aaron Greenberg, stated that "When they unveiled it, it seemed innovative. I think what's happened is now here we are a couple of years later and we feel beyond that. It feels like 2005 tech in 2008.".

Hawkins stated: "I can't tell if they're going towards this mass market idea...or if they're being lured into essentially trying to compete with Warcraft or Second Life".

After Sony has spent alot of time and money on their new online community, it has just been shot down, personally to me it just seems like an idea of earning money, there are several things within the new world that requires money to buy, and they also have sections of the world which are sponsored by different companies like Red Bull. I'm sure that all gamers will hate being spammed with adverts while they walk around.

Overall, it's not a bright future for Sony as they are relying on a over priced console to make them profits, and they won't reduce the price of the console until it makes them some profit. Who knows at what poistion Sony will be in if their Playstation 3 doesn't start to sell more units.

Caribbean Holidays and All Inclusive Holidays are perfect for this Winter.