Sony Delays PS3.....anyone surprised?

[Dark Silver]

By Yukari Iwatani Kane Tue Mar 14, 10:26 PM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp. (6758.T) will delay the release of its new PlayStation 3 video game console until early November because development of some of the technology is behind schedule, Japanese newspapers said on Wednesday.
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Sony's shares fell 1.6 percent after the reports, which said consumer electronics makers and movie companies have been unable to reach agreement on the copy protection technology for Blu-ray Disc drives. The PS3 will use such a drive.

The PS3 launch date has been the subject of heavy speculation in the industry as expectations are high for the machine, which will have cutting-edge technology and is expected to enable users to play games and movies as well as download videos from the Internet.

"It's now a full year behind
Xbox which is a concern," said KBC Securities analyst Hiroshi Kamide, referring to rival Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) Xbox 360 video game console.

Sony is expected to announce the delay at a briefing for software licencees at 3 p.m. (0600 GMT) on Wednesday, which it opened up to media and analysts at the last minute.

Most analysts were not surprised by the reports as they had expected the PS3 to be delayed until late summer or autumn.

Sony currently has about 70 percent of the global market for game consoles, but some analysts have said it could lose as much as 20 percentage points to Microsoft, which is making an aggressive push to increase its 15 percent share.

If the PS3 is delayed until November, it will go head-to head with Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s (7974.OS) next-generation Revolution console, which is expected to hit markets around the same time.

Nintendo also has about a 15 percent market share.

A Sony spokesman in the United States said the PS3 was still slated for a spring 2006 launch, but the company warned last month that the launch could be pushed back if industry specifications for some of its technology weren't finalized soon.

Andy Parsons, a U.S. spokesman for the Blu-Ray Disc Association industry group, denied any problems with the copy protection technology.

"As far as we are concerned, everything's on track," he said.

KBC's Kamide pointed out that the reported delay of the PS3 also has negative implications for Japanese software developers, many of whom rely on the popularity of the PlayStation to drive revenues.

"There's nothing in the first half of the year and the install base in the second half will be so small it will have no material impact for earnings at all," he said. "This is going to be a horrendous year."

Analysts expect the PS3 to be launched for about $500 almost simultaneously in the U.S. and Japan with an initial line up of at least five to 10 games.

Sony shares fell to 5,480 yen at the close of morning trade. The electric machinery index (.IELEC.T) was up 0.3 percent and the Nikkei average
was up 0.48 percent.Yahoo News[/url]

Color me...unshocked...

[Scottish Ninja]

They're still trying to figure out how to mess up the disk reader properly.