SonyPlayStation 3 – PS3

PLAY B3YOND

By Tapiwanashe Nhundu

Company Overview

• Sony is a Japanese based company founded May 7th 1946 by a Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation.

• Multi-product Corporation involved with Audio, Video, Television, Information and Communications, Semiconductors, and Electronic Components

Competition

• Nintendo (Wii), and Microsoft (Xbox 360)

• Xbox 360’s early release caused Sony to release its console before its intended release time.

• Xbox 360 is changed the economics of game consoles.

Competition Future

Sony PS3 is just over 50% of the installed base of next generation consoles, while the Microsoft Xbox 360 will have 28.6%, and the

Nintendo will have 21.2%.

Problems

• PlayStation 3 had to release it’s product

earlier than planned

• Due to the early release, and technological advances, Sony would have to endure high capital costs.– Blu-ray Technology– HDTV support– Increased life span from 5 to 10 years

Marketing

• Advertisements on advertising boards in 16 stadiums across Europe in 2006 (Debut planned for March 2007)

• Baby doll staring at a PlayStation 3

http://www.us.playstation.com/Media/default.aspx?id=15632

Technologies Employed

• New processor dubbed ‘Cell’ 35 times faster than the chip inside its prior models

• Blu-ray disc for language data• Blu-ray disc format which would hold 50

gigabytes of information, the equivalent of six DVDs

• The console allows gamers to access their media from anywhere over the internet, make

video calls using a high definition camera or download new levels of weapons for games.

Technologies Employed….

• The controllers would be wireless, using Bluetooth technology

• PS3 will come ready to be hooked onto the internet, either via a build-in Ethernet port or wi-fi.

Rage

• 81 639 PS3 systems were sold in the 24hours of its introduction in Japan

• In North America, the PS3 was released on November 17 2006, and during its first week of release in the United States, PS3 were sold on eBay for more than $2300 some reaching as much as $30 000.

Attracting

• Advertisements displaying the new PlayStation features– High definition– Blu-Ray disc– Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

• Technologies used– JavaScript– Graphic Interchange Format– Cascading Style Sheets– HTML

http://www.us.playstation.com/Media/default.aspx?id=15632

Engaging

• Support Links

• Easy to read valuable product information

• Easy to read company information

• Forums were built up to have its customers air their views, and have them involved in the building, and improvement of PlayStation now and in the future.

Retaining

• Very little is done to retain new visitors to the site

• Easy signup onto the website, and insight on what members are able to get though membership

• Games can be viewed ,and downloaded via the website

• Members/Subscribers are greeted by their name on the main PlayStation page

Learning

• Once again little was done to learn about customers.

• No surveys were visible, and none popped up.

• The marketing section of the company would be able to get information/feedback via the forum, although there should be more means of getting information than the forum alone.

Relating

• Subscribers are greeted with their name up above.

• There are not much evident proof of relating expect for the minute changes they may make to the website due to e-mails, forums, or other means of relaying queries, complaints and other such things from customers.

• Sony will be unable to get the information, and feedback that it highly important in order to be an even more successful company without the presence of more resources that allow detailed, customer feedback..

What do you think?

• Should a long running successful company such as Sony continue to learning more about its customer base?

• Is such intense competition among Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft valuable in product production?

• With competition as it is today, will there be one dominant/sole console producer?

• Do long running companies such as Sony still need to put much emphasis in preparing a value bubble or is it irrelevant?