Sony PlayStation's New Year's ResolutionsIt's hard to believe, but we're now in 2012, and all three video game platform holders have some serious challenges to face in the next 12 months. IndustryGamers chatted with leading analysts about each of the three and we'll be presenting them to you in the next few days. To start, here's the advice analysts had for Sony PlayStation this year.
Michael Pachter, Wedbush Securities
2012 is the year that they need to learn how to benefit from past mistakes and move on. The company’s strength for its first 60 years was its ability to offer a wide variety of integrated consumer electronics, while successfully branding the Sony name as representing quality. It has tried to do that with PS3, PS Vita and Sony 3D televisions, and has so far failed to re-create the brand equity it enjoyed through the 1990s. Most consumers think of Sony as only a console maker or only a TV maker, and few continue to buy exclusively Sony-branded products. It appears that the push of games into 3D was a waste of time, as it didn’t convince many consumers to run out and buy 3D televisions; similarly, I think that the push of PS Vita as a portable PlayStation is a good idea, but am not sure if there is a mass market need for a portable PlayStation. Sony should come up with a product strategy where it can make money from each product on a standalone basis (as Apple does), with interoperability and cross functionality a nice side benefit. Apple doesn’t try to sell every iPhone owner a Mac; Sony shouldn’t base its PS Vita rollout on PS3 titles.
Jesse Divnich, EEDAR
Believe it or not, 2011 was a great year for Sony, achieving hardware sales in-line with market expectations. Their big focus for 2012 will be the launch of the PlayStation Vita. If Sony can dedicate themselves to launching strong first-party content, I don’t see any reason, not even the price tag, that could hold the Vita back. With early reviews of Uncharted for the Vita coming in positively, it looks like they are on the right track.
David Cole, DFC Intelligence
For Sony, sales of the PlayStation3 have been decent if not spectacular. The PS3 is an incredibly robust system with a great content library. Unfortunately for Sony, not all consumers seem to have gotten the word. The Vita also looks like a strong potential contender as it has a reasonable price point now in the time of expensive tablet systems. However, features like a 3G option may only confuse consumers. Of course, once again initial content will be limited so there will not be much incentive for consumers to rush and get the device before prices drop and the library builds. It looks like no matter what it will take a while for Sony to build momentum around the Vita, but the key challenge in 2012 is to bring back consumer excitement around the Sony and PlayStation brand.
Colin Sebastian, RW Baird
Sony should resolve to think ahead of the competition in their plans for a next generation console. The Xbox lead is expanding, and Nintendo is launching a new system later this year, so Sony should position itself to be the must-have gaming and media box for the living room in 2013.
