Network now...NEWS
Sony to Freeze Staff Wages
Sony will freeze the salaries of its workforce throughout the entirety of the next fiscal year.
Starting from April, the electronic entertainment enterprise will hold off any salary gains, as well as cut bonuses from six months’ pay to four months.
The measures affect the entire corporate structure, including senior management. Annual compensation for managers will fall 10-20 percent through wage cuts, as well as 35-40 percent bonus reductions.
“Executives will also be slugged with huge cuts to bonuses and salaries,” Japanese trade publication Nikkei said.
Unemployment remains on the upswing in Japan as global demand for cars and electronics continues to fall. The strength of the Yen recently reached a thirteen-year high, diminishing opportunities for the nation’s export trade.
Such sliding exports have forced a number of Japanese companies to curb production, and look for alternative ways to recoup losses. On Wednesday, three key technology groups – Toshiba, Hitachi and NEC – claimed they were considering similar measures to Sony.
Sony is expected to report a group operating loss of $2.65 billion for the year ending March 31. The firms’ shares dropped 1.4 percent following the news.
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Sony did somthing with the ps3 that sega did with the sega satrun and thats over pricssing there console to a point where thy was abit out of reach for most people to buy.
So thy mosty buy one thats in a nice price range with all the exstra's and a nice line of games.
Now with the down turn, things are not looking up to much.
No what SEGA did was dump support for the Saturn so they could rush the Dreamcast out and third party developers got pissed off and dropped support.
...and Sony out-marketed Sega with the PS2 convincing gamers it was so much better (on paper they were pretty similar) and to just wait for the PS2 to come out.
edit: off topic. I just noticed they removed the comments section from the games-at-a-glance article. I guess they didn't want some ONE to spill the beans. Or it was getting too KZ2 verdict-ish. Everyone ready for the not-gonna-shock-anyone NPD numbers that are coming out today?
Since the start of its development, Sony has reportedly now lost an accumulated $3 billion on the PlayStation 3. On the other hand, Microsoft lost about $4 billion on the original Xbox over 4 grueling years, never recovering those losses. Things are even worse with the Xbox 360. In its most recent fiscal year alone the company lost $1.9 billion on the console.
Such is the cut-throat nature of the console business, and it's why the smaller fishes have long since been run out of the market. Building consoles is a very costly task. and since consumers doesn't want to pay too much for games, either, selling hardware at a loss is really the only option for companies that want to keep fighting in this market.
From the reports I have read MS has actually been in the green for the games division the last few quarters.
I'm not sure where D-FORCE got his figures from but MS have indulged in a bit of creative accountancy by placing a $1bn write down in one quarter to cover the cost of it's RRoD warranty, It's wise to subtract that from any announcements they've made about profit. Also they could write down further cost later in the console's cycle if that $1bn doesn't cover the total bill.
Whoops, I guess they should have properly Q&A'd the thing before rushing the release huh?
Hahaha Arron, had to take a jab didn't ya! ^^
I was wondering myself if they factored in the RRoD warranty costs. But I think in the end, the 360 has been far more profitable than the xbox 1. With the marketplace apparently doing very well, all the overpriced accessories selling well, software sales being strong, I'd say they're doing alright (considering the current economic climate everyone is struggling with).
Well the first XBOX lost $4bn so its certainly a massive improvement, if its something to be celebrated or not is another debate.
They definitely took a hit getting their foot in the door that's for sure. There's a good 3 years left this console cycle, we'll see how things fair in the end.
bloody double posts.
You've only just realised this? Well done!
Huw JIZZ, you're still here? I thought you went back to your redneckduckhunting.com forum?
A site you recommend, 'manhandled'?
So, Nintendo is just a fluke?
Nintendo did the opposite. They DID NOT compete in the console business and instead created their own niche. And with $10.5 billion in cash, they probably did right.
Personally I am glad the PS3 isn't doing as well as the PS2 did. It makes things, for us gamers anyway, more interesting.
I strongly do not disagree with this comment!
I own a Wii, a PS3 and a 360 and all told the past few years have been an embarrassment of riches.
Well f*ck me running! Dubs agreed with me!
I've skipped the disappointing Wii but between the PS3 and the 360, yeah, it has been an unmitigated cluster f*ck of quality games.
O.k. those people who say that the PS3 is doing bad, also have to say that the 360 is not doing much better. Almost four years on the market and "only" 30 million sold consoles. That's not really very good if you look at the LTD sales of the PS2 (140 million sold).
Sony has always supported its consoles. For example the PSP: A couple of years ago some people said the handheld would be doomed, but now look at Japan. Its the number 1 handheld! Who would have thought that?
The PS3 is still in "sleeper"-mode. Once the price has sunken (soon?), the sales will explode. Still know a lot of people who have a PS2, but haven't had money for a PS3. When the price point has been found, those people will "switch".
A Slim-PS3 would also help a lot!
A slim PS3 and the return of backwards compatibility. ;)
You sounded like a Sony corporate officer with the "switch" from PS2 to PS3 LOL.
Not wanting to start a a fanboy debate or anything just wanted to mention that maybe people get the feeling that the PS3 is doing bad considering that the PS2 did so well (and continues to do so) so in many eyes its considered a failure. Now on the other hand the 360 already surpassed its predecessor in LTD sales and has managed in a way to stop Sony from becoming the market leader this generation (as they did with the mighty PS2) so in many eyes thats a lot (of course I think the Wii is most responsible but the 360 had a little to do with it)
Anyway I keep waiting like many I asumme for a price cut that can FINALLY put the PS3 closer to the $300 point to make the "switch" :P
"On Wednesday, three key technology groups – Toshiba, Hitachi and NEC – claimed they were considering similar measures to Sony."
I just wanted to point this out. Sony is not just games. They are a very big electronics company and many companies like them, especially those that export from Japan, are feeling and have been feeling the pain for sometime now.
They are not going to have a 10 year life span. Here is why pc gaming graphics and gameplay is geetting so good now even the low buget games play better and have better graphics.
Many were quick to dismiss claims that the PS3 would be a 10 year console, as Sony touted it would. However, Sony have shown that they are capable of supporting a console for 10 years with the PS2. For example, God of War 2 which was released 7 years into the life of the PS2 still stands up pretty well to a lot of current generation games.
But will they honestly support it if after four years on the market their sales level off to only 2 million consoles sold a year? That is what they are in danger of doing. They may not have reached that point, but it is possible.
The only reason they are supporting the PS2 rather than dumping it like MS did with the Xbox is because its sales continued to climb year after year. The PS3 has yet to show that kind of momentum. When the PS3 starts to sell at a similar rate to the PS2, then I will believe that it will have a 10 year life.
I think you're right Zach. The PS2 was miles ahead of its competition just a year or two into the generation. Sony doesn't have the luxury of a huge installed base lead this time like they did last. That's not to say they won't turn things around (I'm not so confident, but who am I?). There's a difference between supporting a console for 10 years that NEEDS the support and WANTING to support a console that doesn't necessarily need it for ten years. If 3-4 years from now the next wave of consoles come out and the PS3 is either behind the 360 and Wii still or just a little bit ahead not only will support from in-house devs for Sony need to shift to the PS4 but 3rd parties are going to have much less reason to support a console with such a small installed base (when compared to the juggernaut PS2 was). The only reason the PS2 was supported so long is because it had an installed base of over 100 million. That's a bit different than a console with an installed base of 40-50 million (I can't see the PS3 being much higher than 40 million at the rate they're going out by 2011).
If 3rd party support stops for the PS3 that will essentially kill the system no matter how badly Sony wants to support it for "10 years". And with an installed base less than half its predecessor by the time the next consoles roll around, they will not get the 3rd party support they did with the PS2.
This. It does not mean no new console for 10 years, it means supporting a console for 10 years. They have done it with PS1 and PS2, and are looking to do the same for the PS3.
Not surprising in this environment. Better to freeze wages if it will prevent some layoffs. It would be even better if they (and every other company) would completely do away with bonuses until the economy turns around.
Doesn't surprise me at all....Sony has spent huge amounts of capital trying to have another success as the PS2....But with Blu-Ray not catching on as much as DVD'S did and the lack of AAA quality titles the PS3 has lot to catching up to do. But with the console lifespan expanding this generation due to financial trouble I'm sure the PS3 will help Sony.
I realise it's much more than the console industry that has plague Sony and other companies but I'm sure if it was as much a success as PS2 Sony would not be in the same fate as they are.
You do realise that SCE is a profitable part of Sony and all its consoles have 10 year life cycles, oh and Blu-Ray is doing fairly well considering we are in the middle of an economic depression with it tracking the uptake of DVD levels until just recently. Also until very recently the PS3 was being sold at a loss so if it had been as much of a success as the PS2 was at its height it would have lowered SCE profit margins
I dunno facts huh?
Nothing in ArronC07's above statement is true.
Apart from all of it.
And bob's your uncle.
Oh my, instead of changing cars every 4 months, they will need to wait 6!!! Outrageous...!!