TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony
Corp is expected to
showcase a new
PlayStation console on
Wednesday in a pre-
emptive strike against
Microsoft Corp's bid to
make its Xbox the world's
leading hub for household
entertainment.
The rare PlayStation event
in New York comes amid
industry speculation that
Microsoft is set to unveil
the successor to its Xbox
360, which beats the
seven-year-old
PlayStation 3's online
network with features
such as voice commands
on interactive gaming and
superior connectivity to
smartphones and tablets.
"Their focus is on
establishing a beachhead
for the next generation of
consoles, and that's what
February 20 is all about,"
said P.J. McNealy, CEO and
founder of Digital World
Research. "The reality is
they have been playing
catch-up."
Pushing ahead of
Microsoft's Xbox and
Nintendo Co Ltd's new Wii
U could help Sony revive
an electronics business
hurt by a dearth of hit
gadgets, a collapse in TV
sales and the convergence
of consumer interest
around tablets and
smartphones built by
rivals Apple Inc and
Samsung Electronics Co
Ltd.
Tablets and smartphones
already account for
around 10 percent of the
$80 billion gaming
market. Those mobile
devices, analysts predict,
will within a few years be
as powerful as the current
slew of game-only
consoles.
After six years, Sony
PlayStation sales are just
shy of Xbox's 67 million
installed base and well
behind the 100-million
selling Wii, analysts said.
A lackluster launch in
November of the Wii
successor, the Wii U, gives
Sony a chance to focus on
toppling Microsoft as all
three battle the
encroachment of casual
gaming on tablets and
smartphones. Nintendo
cut its sales target to 4
million machines from 5.5
million for the year
ending March 31.
STREAMING
Microsoft's answer to the
casual gaming threat has
been software that gives
users extra content and
allows them to surf the
Internet from their mobile
devices. The Xbox already
streams Netflix and ESPN
and links to tablets and
smartphones using
Windows or Apple's iOS
and Google Inc's Android.
Sony's PS3 online network
has lagged.
"For Sony, they have to
come out and make this
PlayStation event the
definitive statement of
why gamers need to
adopt the PlayStation 4 or
PlayStation Orbis or
whatever they end up
calling it," said Greg Miller,
PlayStation executive
editor at video game site
IGN.com.
Sony's purchase in July of
U.S. cloud-based gaming
company Gaikai for $380
million hints that the
Japanese company will
pursue a similar
streaming strategy to
Microsoft. Sony, industry
watchers say, may also
offer an expanded range
of free games to counter
the threat from casual
gaming.
Sony, which under its CEO
Kazuo Hirai is focusing on
gaming, mobile devices
and cameras, needs a hit
product. But by betting on
a PS3 successor, Hirai,
whose most profitable
business is life insurance,
risks deepening consumer
electronic losses as he will
have to sell consoles at
below the manufacturing
cost to gain market
traction.
That choice is made
harder because the other
two pillars of Hirai's new
Sony - cameras and
mobile - are losing
money.
Sony expects to post a
$1.4 billion operating
profit in the current fiscal
year. Yet, much of that
rebound is gains from
offloading real estate,
including $1.1 billion for
its New York
headquarters.
The PlayStation event in
New York starts at 2300
GMT (1800 EST).
($1 = 93.5200 Japanese
yen)
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