PS3 officially delayed until November

[Young Drachma]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/bu...rtner=homepage

TOKYO, March 15 — Sony said today it would postpone release of its next-generation PlayStation video game console until November, a potentially costly move that the company portrayed as a marketing decision but that analysts said may reflect difficulty in containing high component prices.

The delay of the new console, PlayStation 3, is an apparent setback for Sony's turnaround efforts at a time when the struggling electronics giant badly needs a new hit product. The once high-flying electronics maker has fallen on hard times as cheap competition from China has eroded earnings of bread-and-butter consumer electronics products like televisions.

Ken Kutaragi, president of Sony's game unit, apologized repeatedly during a hastily called meeting of game software developers, analysts and reporters for failing to have the console ready this spring, as originally promised. He said the delay was mostly the result of a strategic decision to give developers time to write game software, and to make a splash ahead of the pre-Christmas shopping rush.

"Instead of rushing, we want to have a solid launch," Mr. Kutaragi said. "We wanted to have time to make the big sales season that starts with Thanksgiving."

Mr. Kutaragi said Sony will be ready to produce 1 million consoles per month by November, and plans to make 6 million machines by March 2007.

But analysts said the delay will be costly for Sony. It means PlayStation 3 will not reach the market until nearly a full year after rival Microsoft released its competing machine, xBox 360. Sony has also been counting on PlayStation 3 to serve as a showcase for two new technologies upon which the company is betting its future: the Blu-ray DVD format and the powerful Cell processing chip, developed with IBM and Toshiba.

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