Like many others we have seen the impending release of the Sony PlayStation 3 as one of the most important consumer electronic product launches ever. And for Sony, which after all is often seen as Japan.plc, it’s an incredibly important product.
The list of feature are enough to make the most cynical enthusiast (sounds like a oxymoron, but we are sure you can be both - Ed) drool.
First there’s the IBM Cell chip, the wonder chip that is supposed to represent an acceleration of Moore’s Law, which says processors double in speed every 18 months.
Then there’s Blu-ray DVD, one of the two potential successors to DVD, and then throw into the mix WiFi and Sony’s record of dominating the games playing industry, and you have a product which could be the first genuine machine for converging games, internet functions, and video.
But there are problems. First of all Microsoft has beaten Sony to the punch. And while the Xbox 360 might not be quite the wonder machine the PS3 promises to be, its is till very impressive.
Then there’s the component cost. Merrill Lynch has calculated the component cost on launch at $900. After three years, it expects this to fall to $320. Now that’s a high material cost. And the question many have asked is how much will Sony have to sell the product for? Bear in mind, that in the UK, there’s retailer margin, and VAT.
Of course, Sony will have no choice but to subsidise the machine, and make money from games. No doubt the men and women at Sony are busy puzzling on other money making ideas too, such as tying up with a broadband ISP, for example. Even so, its seems likely that this will be the most expensive games machine ever, and could perhaps mark the first time a games console is more expensive than a PC.
But now another problem has emerged, the PS3 was due for launch this spring. But rumour has it that, thanks to delays over finalising the specification of the Blu-ray standard, August is looking like the date for release. And maybe we would go backwards from there.
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