Can the PS3 last long?

The PS3 is doing so poorly, and it's costing Sony so much money, that
I wonder how much longer Sony can afford to keep this albatross around
its neck.

According to the tally from the NPD Group, Nintendo took the top
hardware spot in May, with about 423,000 Nintendo DS handhelds sold.
Nintendo's Wii console was in second place, with sales of 338,000.
Third was the handheld Sony PSP (a quiet success story that deserves
its own column) with sales of 221,000, while the venerable PS2 was in
fourth place with 187,000 consoles sold.
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Huffing and panting across the finish line in fifth was the Xbox 360
with 155,000 consoles sold, while the PS3 was sixth, with a mere
81,000 systems sold.

The PS3 is occupying the sales slot that, in the last two console
generations, was reserved for Nintendo's GameCube and N64 systems.

The difference, though, is that Nintendo always eked out a small
profit on those consoles, even when they were easily outsold by the
PS2 and original PlayStation. Sony will lose almost $500 million on
its game division this year, according to analysts polled last week by
the Financial Times.

That is simply untenable for Sony.

Not only is the console not selling well, but people who do buy it
aren't buying games, which is where the real money is.

According to GameDaily.biz, of the top 10 best-selling games in May,
four were for the Nintendo Wii or DS, four were on the Xbox 360, and
two were on the PS2.

Not a single PS3 game made the top 10.

Microsoft can ride out the wave of Nintendo mania a little longer,
because Xbox 360 fans are dedicated, and they're being rewarded with
excellent games. Halo 3 alone could easily entice several million
people to buy a 360 later this year.

But Sony's console isn't seen as the system for the hard-core gamer,
as is the 360. It's seen as the system for rich people who already own
a 360 and are looking for something frivolous to spend their cash on.

For a mass-market consumer electronics maker like Sony, that customer
demographic is simply too small. After all, more than 100 million PS2s
have been sold since the system was released in 2000. At this rate,
we'll all be dead and buried - or be cyborgs kept alive by nanobots
and genetic engineering - before the PS3 hits that milestone.

So Sony has two choices: slash the price (and a $100 discount may not
be enough anymore) and hope that higher game sales can offset the
hardware loss. Or get out of the home console business and focus on
handhelds.

Things sure do change in a hurry.

That was a good article... last week. :oCarmilla31

The numbers haven't changed much in 10 days.

they said the same thing about the ps2?

also if there not the ps3 gamein the top 10 that doesn't mean it fail because look at the psp it outsold everything except wii and ds but it software sales sucks

The numbers really have no real merit now because this is always the lean months for anything. Also Sony is still having some problems with keeping up with suppling the system to retail outlets. Once the delivery of the PS3 to retailers is corrected and the holidays come around then the numbers could have some merit then. jimm895

... you really don't believe that, do you?

Supply issues? I can go out and purchase 10-20 PS3s within the hour if I wish to.

The numbers really have no real merit now because this is always the lean months for anything. Also Sony is still having some problems with keeping up with suppling the system to retail outlets. Once the delivery of the PS3 to retailers is corrected and the holidays come around then the numbers could have some merit then. jimm895

Our Target, Best Buy and Circuit City have them sitting on shelves. The supply to retail outlets are just fine. If only the retail outlets can actually sell any. Buy the looks of the shelves there will be plenty of PS3's around for the holiday season.

[QUOTE="jimm895"]The numbers really have no real merit now because this is always the lean months for anything. Also Sony is still having some problems with keeping up with suppling the system to retail outlets. Once the delivery of the PS3 to retailers is corrected and the holidays come around then the numbers could have some merit then. Unassigned

Our Target, Best Buy and Circuit City have them sitting on shelves. The supply to retail outlets are just fine. Ifonly the retail outlets can actually sell any. Buy the looks of the shelves there will be plenty of PS3's around for the holiday season.

The numbers really have no real merit now because this is always the lean months for anything. Also Sony is still having some problems with keeping up with suppling the system to retail outlets. Once the delivery of the PS3 to retailers is corrected and the holidays come around then the numbers could have some merit then. jimm895

Take off the fanboy goggles. Supply issues? Rigggggght.