Sony Japan to close factories. Playstation division may be in trouble.

[Kayos]

Sony Japan to close factories and 'major divisions' - report

Following the decision to cut 8000 jobs by 2010, Sony is set to take more drastic cost-cutting initiatives early next month, closing factories in Japan and abolishing a number of its major divisions.

That's according to a report by The Times, which claims the company will restructure its business with fundamental changes to the manufacturing process and a radical management upheaval.

The majority of changes are likely to be made at Sony Japan, with the report expecting a series of "sacred cow-slaying" moves by the company.

The Sony Group's main divisions include manufacturer Sony Electronics, television and film outfit Sony Pictures International, PlayStation department Sony Computer Entertainment, music label Sony BMG and insurance and banking division Sony Financial Holdings.

According to analysts, Sony needs to shift into the content business and away from manufacturing, and president Sir Howard Stringer must take complete control of the business and push out the old guard in management.
"The most important thing is that, to improve organisational strength in the areas of development, purchasing and marketing, it will be necessary to further concentrate power in the hands of [Sir Howard] and unless this is achieved we believe [Sony] will be unable to close the gap with competitors such as Apple and Nintendo," offered Koya Tabata, analyst at Credit Suisse.

Both Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank have downgraded the company in recent weeks, with analysts warning Sony has reacted too slowly to its own business needs and the current economic climate.

Full article here

Sony's in deeper water than I imagined. I'd be terrible for the Playstation division to close but I've questioned Sony's business tactics in the past and I would not be surprised if they did. At most I believe they'll make some cut backs in the division but I hope they keep there gaming gears rolling.

 

[xPlozion]

wow, doesn't bother me though... i don't have a playstation. now, if evga or xfx went under, as well as intel and many other big computer names, then i'll begin to worry

 

[Kayos]

In all fairness manufacturing companies like evga are in a somewhat lesser league than what Sony is to the gaming industry.

 

[xPlozion]

yes, because there are many diff nvidia and ati manufacturers. you've got evga, xfx, pny, bfg, and those are just nvidia cards. i don't know what ati has, because i've never used an ati card.

although sony "was" a pioneer in the gaming industry, i don't feel that way about them anymore. imo, the ps3 was a flop. does that mean they suck, no, but they didn't reach the top again and took ideas from current gen systems (wii -> six-axis, xbl -> psn) and didn't capitalize on them. i'm not sure because i dont' have one, but how many games actually take advantage of the six-axis controller? also, from what i've heard in the past, psn is not even close to being up to par with xbl (which will keep xbox above the water always imo).

 

[Kayos]

I agree with you on most counts but lets not make this a console war thread.

The sad fact is that they still have the largest fanbase of all the consoles with there PS2 (which refuses to die no less). They still are a major player and if they went under it would hurt the industry more than anything.

On the PS3 front they are a sinking ship. Constant blunders have put them in this position and by all means they should consider severing the Playstation brand. That said, the future does look a lot brighter, especially since price manufacturing costs are expected to lower. That will give them an opportunity to make a real price cut.

All in all for Sony to cut there PS brand when it has so much potential would be another blunder in the companies long list of bad decisions. I have a feeling though the higher ups are not that stupid though. I'd be awestruck if they did. Angry too.

 

[xPlozion]

agreed. ps2 was a great console, i just don't feel that they passed the torch onto the ps3 with as much dedication. the fact that the xbox came out a year earlier didn't help them either.

 

[skai123]

Sony are not gona axe the PlayStation... With the amount of 1st/2nd party games that are going to come out for the PS3 this and next year...

although sony "was" a pioneer in the gaming industry, i don't feel that way about them anymore. imo, the ps3 was a flop. does that mean they suck, no, but they didn't reach the top again and took ideas from current gen systems (wii -> six-axis, xbl -> psn) and didn't capitalize on them. i'm not sure because i dont' have one, but how many games actually take advantage of the six-axis controller? also, from what i've heard in the past, psn is not even close to being up to par with xbl (which will keep xbox above the water always imo).

Micrsoft are the one that is gona bring down the gaming industry if Sony backs out... Since Microsoft pretty much copies their competition or buys them out. ie. avatar, lips, etc etc

You expect PS3 to rise to the top in 2 years? lol, pretty funny. Especially with like ~$200 more than the nearest compitition... And is actually selling at a higher rate than PS2 in the same timeframe...

PSN isnt that bad compared to XBL, XBL right now only has a couple of perks, ie. cross game chat... and you're paying ~50$ a year for it... It doesn't seem worth it to me. PSN has been getting a lot of updates over the years.

And if you're talking about lag, I only experience lag like once or twice, which could have been my problem, (my PS3 is in basement and my wireless router is in 2nd floor)

Going to use VGchartz (easy to access) to show how much the PS3 and 360 sale are
http://vgchartz.com/
PS3 ~19 mill (avg ~9.5/year)
360 ~27 mill (avg ~9/year)

And there's only 8mill difference, the gap will close pretty soon, especially if PS3 has a price cut sometime this year.
Look at the release this year for PS3, Lots of potenial AAA titles ie. Killzone 2, God of War 3, Heavy Rain, GT5 etc. And Blu-Ray is getting a lot better too (selling faster than DVD in first 2 years; link) , which hopefully will sale some PS3s.

 

[Kayos]

Sony are not gona axe the PlayStation... With the amount of 1st/2nd party games that are going to come out for the PS3 this and next year...



Micrsoft are the one that is gona bring down the gaming industry if Sony backs out... Since Microsoft pretty much copies their competition or buys them out. ie. avatar, lips, etc etc

You expect PS3 to rise to the top in 2 years? lol, pretty funny. Especially with like ~$200 more than the nearest compitition... And is actually selling at a higher rate than PS2 in the same timeframe...

PSN isnt that bad compared to XBL, XBL right now only has a couple of perks, ie. cross game chat... and you're paying ~50$ a year for it... It doesn't seem worth it to me. PSN has been getting a lot of updates over the years.

And if you're talking about lag, I only experience lag like once or twice, which could have been my problem, (my PS3 is in basement and my wireless router is in 2nd floor)

Going to use VGchartz (easy to access) to show how much the PS3 and 360 sale are
http://vgchartz.com/
PS3 ~19 mill (avg ~9.5/year)
360 ~27 mill (avg ~9/year)

You have a very limited view on the console industry if you think Microsoft "copies" it's competitors. Each company is guilty of borrowing ideas from another source. Nintendo didn't invent the avatar, Sony didn't invent singing games, etc. They've all borrowed them from other sources.

Another thing, VGChartz takes guesstimation to another level with there numbers. They have no real base for most of there numbers. Stick to NPD numbers or numbers directly from the console manufacturers mouths.

But can you please refrain from making this thread a console war debate thread. Keep it in the other ones.

 

[skai123]

Microsoft did copy to become the billionair they are today...
Microsoft does copy, and buy out company and disolvses their tech.
I know company take ideas from other sources and what not.
and plus this was reply to the guy that said sony took ideas. So im showing him that Microsoft does the same thing.

VGchartz does use reliable sources to adjust the numbers when they release, and they are not too far off... i did put a "~" = "about/around" ... NPD only calculates the US it doesnt include Canada(?) and the rest of the world, it doesnt even include sales from walmart (they estimate those sales)...




---
Edit:
why am i even replying to people that almost never comes back?...

 

[Kayos]

Microsoft did copy to become the billionair they are today...
Microsoft does copy, and buy out company and disolvses their tech.
I know company take ideas from other sources and what not.
and plus this was reply to the guy that said sony took ideas. So im showing him that Microsoft does the same thing.

VGchartz does use reliable sources to adjust the numbers when they release, and they are not too far off... i did put a "~" = "about/around" ... NPD only calculates the US it doesnt include Canada(?) and the rest of the world, it doesnt even include sales from walmart (they estimate those sales)...

VGChartz sale data still is unreliable..

why am i even replying to people that almost never comes back?...

I'll always be here for ya to argue with.

 

[skai123]

VGChartz sale data still is unreliable..



I'll always be here for ya to argue with.

lol, I dont trust VGChartz much either, but their numbers are not far too of. And it's easy to access worldwide sales. I only look at console sales not game sales, which that article mostly talked about.

 

[Kayos]

lol, I dont trust VGChartz much either, but their numbers are not far too of. And it's easy to access worldwide sales. I only look at console sales not game sales, which that article mostly talked about.

Honestly, I'm sure there console figures are probably accurate to a degree. I'd say they are probably off by 500,000 to a million in some cases as is with the case of the 360 which Microsoft has stated selling 28 million consoles by the end of 08. That's accurate enough for most people. Now the game sales data I wouldn't trust at all.

 

[skai123]

Honestly, I'm sure there console figures are probably accurate to a degree. I'd say they are probably off by 500,000 to a million in some cases as is with the case of the 360 which Microsoft has stated selling 28 million consoles by the end of 08. That's accurate enough for most people. Now the game sales data I wouldn't trust at all.

Ya, i only use it for console sells, that article even mentions about 8 million lead, which i also stated...
on vgchartz site it actually says 27.21m for 360 and 19.31m for PS3, i just rounded it down...

Doesn't Microsoft say shipped as sold? or did they changed that?

 

[Kayos]

Ya, i only use it for console sells, that article even mentions about 8 million lead, which i also stated...
on vgchartz site it actually says 27.21m for 360 and 19.31m for PS3, i just rounded it down...

Doesn't Microsoft say shipped as sold? or did they changed that?

They say sold, not shipped. So, when they say sold, they mean sold. I know Sony's stated sold as shipped in the past. I don't know any more with any company, even Nintendo, which has also stated sold, which included shipped.

 

[skai123]

They say sold, not shipped. So, when they say sold, they mean sold. I know Sony's stated sold as shipped in the past. I don't know any more with any company, even Nintendo, which has also stated sold, which included shipped.

Sony used to say sold as shipped, but they changed it about 2 years ago or so? I know when Nintendo says sold they mean sold. Microsoft im not sure about, that's why I asked.
Edit:
new Killzone 2 video

http://forums.gametrailers.com/?do=show_thread&id=571231

(i'm downloading it right now...)
Edit:
download got stuck half way so i watched the stream...

There arnt a lot of people on this forum... sigh...

 

[warlordste]

sony is still recovering from the ps3 they thought they created a brillant game console and instead its rubbish and inless they get a new console they will be in deep water there just trying to recover there losses but they wont close the playstation devision might make it smaller though but they get alot of income from playstation for it to close

 

[skai123]

sony is still recovering from the ps3 they thought they created a brillant game console and instead its rubbish and inless they get a new console they will be in deep water there just trying to recover there losses but they wont close the playstation devision might make it smaller though but they get alot of income from playstation for it to close

PS3 is not "rubbish". lol Sony is lossing money from PS3 sales but are making it back from game, accessories sales. Doubt they will make PS devision smaller either. If they release a new PS so soon, they will lose even more money...

 

[dquigley]

My opinion is that Nintendo will pwn sony to the death. I used to work at a electronics repair store, all I can say is that compared to nintendo products, sony, and microsoft are extremely low quality, they break very often, are made from cheap materials, and the motherboard components are not anywhere near as good quality as nintendos, I never did see a wii that broke from anything, I was there for more then a year and we got 2 wii's both were broken from abuse such as sticking coins in the cd trays, we got hundreds of xbox 360s, and ps3s. So my suggestion, BUY NINTENDO

 

[Jeremia0]

Maybe if the PS3 had better games and wasn't soo not fun, maybe it would sell better?

 

[Parsa44]

Sony was always in trouble, ecpecting us to buy a console for £400 is expecting too much, infact for evrey one PS3 sold 4 xbox's where sold, and that just says it all.