Bloomberg: Sony profits could fall 50 percent

[wraggster]

via gamespot (http://us.gamespot.com/news/6164899.html)

Sony's third quarter financial earnings results, which are scheduled to be released tomorrow, could see its net income down to 84.1 billion yen (approx $680 million), reports Bloomberg.

The financial news service surveyed five analysts, and its median estimates weigh in with the PlayStation 3 maker falling dramatically short of its previous third quarter earnings, which saw record profits of 168.9 billion yen ($1.39 billion) last year.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer has "failed to fend off Nintendo," the report continues, with the Wii outselling the PS3 two-to-one worldwide.

The company is likely to lose a record 191.9 billion yen ($1.57 billion) from games this fiscal year, compared with a profit of 8.7 billion yen ($71 million) last year, according to the survey.

In October, Sony cut its fiscal year profit forecast to 80 billion yen, a five-year low. Shares in Sony recently jumped six percent, the biggest single increase in more than a year, although these figures trail beyond the 61 percent share-price increase for Nintendo, and the 26 percent increase for Xbox 360 maker Microsoft.

[Boardman2411]

Serves Sony right. they should listen to their customers more.

[NovaKane]

Damn, Sony gotta step their game up if they want to survive the console wars (if you want to call it that) this year. Things are finally changing and their monopoly days are over.

[JKKDARK]

I wish Sony leaves the console market

[Shadowblind]

Sony will be off the market, probably sooner then you think. And I agree, this could all have been avoided if Sony simply listened to what its customers wanted rather then what Sony WANTED its customers to want.

[Mr.Denny]

LOL $ony

See what i did there?

I put a dollar symbol instead of an "S" because Sony is a huge money eating machine and we must fight them!. The fourth Reich, i tell you.

Seriously, enough of the usual "Sony sucks" rants.

[NovaKane]

I'm guessing there won't be a PS4...

[John Vattic]

I'm buying a ps3 for sure. The wii is just like the ds as far as being gimmicky. When it comes down to it, I prefer hardware power to cheap gimmicks. Although in America, most of my fellow citizens are silly enough to buy into gimmicks.

Also with every emo kid in America stumbling around to get a wii, the ps3 will be there to appeal to normal people. At least if this emo fad wears off like it should, Sony should do better in this next year.

And i may dislike sony's sales strategy, but i still love their products. I've grown out of the "i hate sony" 12-year-old mindset.

At least Sony isn't insulting it's customers with cheap gimmicks like nintendo is. That alone will insure my support for their new console.:cool:

[muffinman]

lol ill be buying a ps3 and i just sold my wii :p (not because i hate it but because i got all my money back and i can just buy a new one when decent games come out e.g metroid and smash bro's)

anyways sony wont die, the ps3 will become popular when it becomes a bit cheaper and more people can afford it.

[Yobumtin]

I'm buying a ps3 for sure. The wii is just like the ds as far as being gimmicky. When it comes down to it, I prefer hardware power to cheap gimmicks. Although in America, most of my fellow citizens are silly enough to buy into gimmicks.

Also with every emo kid in America stumbling around to get a wii, the ps3 will be there to appeal to normal people. At least if this emo fad wears off like it should, Sony should do better in this next year.

And i may dislike sony's sales strategy, but i still love their products. I've grown out of the "i hate sony" 12-year-old mindset.

At least Sony isn't insulting it's customers with cheap gimmicks like nintendo is. That alone will insure my support for their new console.:cool:


No actually the "emo" fad has nothing to do with gaming. "Emo" short for emotional is a psychological disorder. There are some people who act sad just to get attention but thats lame. A lot of people with different hair styles are just as normal as you. Whether they want to have black hair, or if they want to look gangster there's a lot of people who don't think of themselves any different. Sorry for the rant but I hate when people use labels to describe people and what they like.

Nintendo wanted to get everyone who isn't a gamer to be interested in gaming. And old gamers are interested in the wii. Thats why Nintendo's doing so good with this system. Sony's doing bad because they haven't listened to its customers and they just aren't as experienced on the market as Nintendo.

[S41N7]

No actually the "emo" fad has nothing to do with gaming. "Emo" short for emotional is a psychological disorder. There are some people who act sad just to get attention but thats lame. A lot of people with different hair styles are just as normal as you. Whether they want to have black hair, or if they want to look gangster there's a lot of people who don't think of themselves any different. Sorry for the rant but I hate when people use labels to describe people and what they like.

Nintendo wanted to get everyone who isn't a gamer to be interested in gaming. And old gamers are interested in the wii. Thats why Nintendo's doing so good with this system. Sony's doing bad because they haven't listened to its customers and they just aren't as experienced on the market as Nintendo.

4rEAL. Let us not forget the continuing success of the ps2. Im no fanboy, but agree that when the ps3 beomes more affordable it will be a force to be reconed with. (I predict a wii type remote for ps3)

[emuking]

I'm buying a ps3 for sure. The wii is just like the ds as far as being gimmicky. When it comes down to it, I prefer hardware power to cheap gimmicks. Although in America, most of my fellow citizens are silly enough to buy into gimmicks.

Also with every emo kid in America stumbling around to get a wii, the ps3 will be there to appeal to normal people. At least if this emo fad wears off like it should, Sony should do better in this next year.

And i may dislike sony's sales strategy, but i still love their products. I've grown out of the "i hate sony" 12-year-old mindset.

At least Sony isn't insulting it's customers with cheap gimmicks like nintendo is. That alone will insure my support for their new console.:cool:

i hope resistance can bring you all the happiness in the world for months and months because that's all you'll be playing :rofl:

[Yobumtin]

4rEAL. Let us not forget the continuing success of the ps2. Im no fanboy, but agree that when the ps3 beomes more affordable it will be a force to be reconed with. (I predict a wii type remote for ps3)

I thought the Ps2 was a pretty good system. In fact its the only system I play now (Guitar hero :])

But I dunno if the PS3 will be priced what people think is affordable. Competing wise I don't think Sony will ever outsell the Wii. I could definitely be wrong though. Sony COULD pull out a remote like controller from their bag of tricks. :] Lets just hope the PS3 will fail on the market though. :]

I'm definitely not a fanboy either. I thought the whole handheld war was a bit too serious. :| I hated seeing a bunch of nerds fighting over what system was better while carving "DS RULEZ!!" In the demo psps.

[John Vattic]

No actually the "emo" fad has nothing to do with gaming.

Actually, it has everything to do with gaming. From the kid in their room crying about Kingdom Hearts, to the kid in the mall feeding their Nintendogs on their ds, emo is the role we play.

Emo=society as a whole and trend followers, as far as I'm concerned. Because most people have nothing better to do than watch other peoples lives on reality tv or play video games(rpg fantasy garbage).

PS3 is the only next gen system i've seen out. The Wii is only a gamecube with a wand. And the 360 is just an xbox-and-a-half.

oh and i don't play my psp or ds, i just hack them!

[Nocuddle]

Its not over yer, S0nNy!

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21147634%5E15322%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html



SONY BMG has agreed to settle charges that it secretly embedded potentially damaging anti-piracy software in some of its CDs, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said.

The settlement requires Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony and Germany's Bertelsmann, to make further disclosures, to allow consumers to exchange the CDs at issue and reimburse consumers for up to $US150 ($194) to repair any damage to their computers, the FTC said.

"Consumers' computers belong to them, and companies must adequately disclose unexpected limitations on the customary use of their products so consumers can make informed decisions regarding whether to purchase and install that content," FTC chairman Deborah Majoras said in a statement.

The FTC said Sony BMG violated the law by embedding some music CDs with software that installed itself on consumers' computers without their consent and restricted the number of times the audio files could be copied.

It also was used to help send them marketing messages, the FTC said.

The software was "unreasonably difficult to uninstall" and created security vulnerabilities that could allow hackers and other third parties to gain access to consumers' computers, the FTC said.

The software at issue was included on millions of Sony BMG CDs sold in 2005. The agency charged that it was deceptive because Sony BMG failed to disclose adequately that software would be installed.

"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the Federal Trade Commission," Sony BMG said in a statement. The company declined to comment further.

Last month, Sony BMG reached a nearly identical settlement with 41 states and the District of Columbia. The company no longer includes the software on its CDs

Reuters