Kaz Hirai: PS Vita Sales Are on the Low End of Expectations

Push Square: "Speaking at a press event directly after the conclusion of last night’s CES press conference, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai has admitted that PlayStation Vita sales are currently tracking towards the bottom of the company’s expectations."

[LOGICWINS]

Wow..I just gained a whole new level of respect for Kaz after admitting that. To many companies like to sugarcoat things and/or make excuses.

[Thatguy-310]

Exactly! Only a respectful company are direct and don't try to sugarcoat reality. But like he said long term is what counts. Still have faith on the system. Waiting for mercenaries and tearaway and a few psn titles to come out.

[SynGamer]

I honestly expect Sony to "wow" us when they reveal the PS4 (or whatever it will be called) and show the interactivity with the Vita. I feel like Sony has some tricks up their sleeve that they can't quite pull off with the current PS3, but are ready and waiting for next-gen.

Can't wait :D

[Hingle_Mcringleberry]

If he were truly honest, he'd drop the "low-end of expectations" and just plain out say below expectations. I mean they've had to slash their predicted sales by MILLIONS, TWICE! If that isn't BELOW expectations, I don't know what is.
So no newfound respect here.
@dboy: "Only a respectful company are
direct and don't try to sugarcoat reality." Are you for real? Where were you when they were sugar-coating how the PSP Go was doing when they flat out said it was selling according to their expectations? Or the PS Move when they counted the navigator, the wand and the ps eye as individual units to bolster up Move sold units? How how about when they hid Vita sales numbers by lumping them up with Psp sales in their financial report?
The one time they semi-admit that the VITA is not selling well and suddenly they are a respectful company that don't sugarcoat things. Gimme a break.

[adorie]

I think you're much better suited to be the Chairman Executive Officer of Sony Corp. .../s

[JoGam]

I think the "Professional" way to say it was what he said.

The "Non Professional" way to put it is "It SuckS" or the way you put it.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

***"So no newfound respect here."***

Yeah, I doubt there is anything he could do to gain any bit of respect from you..

[TheTwelve]

I like this mature look at the Vita sales. All Sony consoles begin slowly and for them to expect otherwise here would be fluke-ish.

Still, I love my Vita and ever since I bought it my 3DS collects dust.

12

[Chaotic_Lament]

The PS2 began slowly?

[TheTwelve]

@Chaotic --- PS2 didn't start to really sell until the GTA franchise hit it.---12

[miyamoto]

Yup.

Like M$ Steve Ballmer of course.

OT

imagine if the Vita has a custom Android OS from the get go and can do all the Android stuff?

[NYC_Gamer]

Well, he's being honest when talking about the PSV sales.

[tachy0n]

and thats good, now they know they have to do something about it!

[Blank]

Wow my jaw dropped upon reading that I mean he bluntly stated it, well dont worry kaz im one of those proud vita owners that bought the early release bundle up to this day its been worth it! People really need to stop and look at it and what it offers especially for gaming possibilities that back panel has alot of potential! I seriously always thought "what if this (random device) had a back touch panel?" ill keep supporting the vita till the end!

[NeverEnding1989]

You've only bought one Vita? Shame on you

You are no real fan. Us Vita owners need to buy at least 2-3 to keep this handheld afloat.

[EddieNX]

That's just creepy.....

[JoGam]

For the record...I got a Vita and both my sons have one too.

[TacoTaru]

If there would be some jrpg goodness for the Vita I would buy a couple but they just don't seem to want my $.

[Nerdmaster]

But in what ways the back panel was used until today? I can only remember climbing ropes on Uncharted.

[boybato]

Tearaway seems to have a good utilization of that feature...

[Sanquine90]

Punching in stranger's wrath!

[neoMAXMLC]

Pentavision utilized the back touch panel for DJMAX Technika Tune. One of the best uses of the back touch IMO.

[Skate-AK]

Pickpocketing and opening letters in Assassins Creed Liberation. Double tape it to run in Resistance Burning Skies.

[iamnsuperman]

I am wondering what they are going to do. I recently posted here a blog on how these should be implementing remote play with all their PS3 games (especially the Sony made ones as I can understand third party reluctance) but I do wonder what Sony is waiting for. They are not going to lie down and let this happen and Hirai admitting shows they understand the situation. I wonder the relation to the PS3 example is hinting that they have a plan that will be revealed soon (well I hope soon)

[fOrlOnhOpe57]

Like a lot of Sony stuff, Vita will likely be a slow burner. Im ok with the games available so far but just wished they would pull the price of the memory cards down a bit rather than the console.

[iamnsuperman]

I agree the price of memory cards is ridiculous. I have seen some retailers selling the 32GB memory card for £75 (£50 at a push). They need to lower that price especially when the Vita supports PSN+.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

Totally agree.
The memory card prices are a joke and need to come down. The actual Vita itself is a great price. Also I would like to be able to have more than one account.
Apart from these problems the Vita is amazing and I have had some of the best gaming moments of 2012 on my Vita.
Loved Gravity Rush, LBP just preordered Persona 4 and I have been playing Ragnarok Odyssey none stop since christmas.
People should really give the Vita a chance and pick one up.

[cmpunk53]

I really hope Sony will up its game and more games will be announced come destination playstation. I think it's a good thing that nintendo announced the new pokemon before destination and HOPEFULLY, Sony will have major vita announcements.

[sprinterboy]

Vita will do just fine imo, yes its started slow but it takes time in this market, vita sales will be a different story by the end of 2013 and with a price drop at some point and memory cards becoming cheaper over the next year, things will be just fine

[joeorc]

“I would say it’s on the low end of what we expected,” said Mr. Hirai. He noted, however, that it takes 5-10 years before he can say a product has been successful. He said similar questions were asked about the PlayStation 3 early in its cycle, but he now sees that console as a success.

“Long term is what is important,”

Profit at this point is more important than market share, and i for one do not blame them. waiting until mid to late 2013 for a PSVita price cut may be only in the cards unless the price for their chips can be reduced fast enough. if they cannot expect no price cut until they can,in my opinion.

Sony's PSVita is not selling as well as they would like, but on the same token it is selling!

the Price point for the device is not like the price point for the Nintendo 3DS. the disparity in Hardware is not something Sony is willing to take a big cut on when Margins are very slim already. An people expecting them to do so really are setting their eye in the sky for such a cut this quick.

The 3DS by Nintendo uses a dual core Arm 11 (The initial ARM11 core (ARM1136) was released to licensees in late 2002.) There are however ARMv6-M cores

http://www.arm.com/products...

vs the PSVita with a Quad core Cortex A9..

http://www.arm.com/products...

there is no contest, to think the PSVita's price point need's to be in the same ball park as the Nintendo 3DS this early is not even a viable option because the hardware disparity between the Nintendo 3DS to the PSVita is like Game consoles to the PC. the Gap is that large. Sony designed the PSVita for the market for the long Haul, that does not mean that the market will accept it, but it does mean Sony is taking with their business plan for the PSVita to be a Handheld for the long Haul. With the Hardware that can keep up. the fact that the PSVita has 128 MB of dedicated Video ram, vs' the Nintendo 3DS's 6 MB of dedicated video ram. shows that Sony is looking for the PSVita to be their handheld game system for a while.

Long term instead of short term cycle will they make it , who know's all they can do is try they set their business plan in motion we just have to see how it works out.

[megamanX2]

"Well, he's being honest when talking about the PSV sales. "

lol like he can say anything otherwise.

[raWfodog]

He could not say anything at all or skirt the issue entirely, like a lot of others do.

[PS3gamer4life]

The vita is awesome everybody have to get 1

[EddieNX]

Naaaaaaaaah. 3DS is better. Doesn't matter about graphics at the end of the day , it matters about Nintendo's awesome Handheld games. Pokemon X and Y is the end of the Vita...

[Y_5150]

I have a PSVita and a 3DS. Both worth your money. PSVita and 3DS has some good games coming this year so why choose a side? The 3DS has been lacking titles for me to enjoy for late 2012 and until March. I have more games on my Vita than my 3DS even though I had my 3DS for an extra year! Pokemon will be awesome first one I'm excited for since Diamond version, Tearaway is my favorite Vita title this year so far. I hope for a new Kirby game soon and a new entry for the "Mario & Luigi" series! Again don't choose sides, then you'll miss out.

[TongkatAli]

Doesn't your knees hurt ?

[YoungPlex]

"Sony CEO Kaz Hirai admitted that PlayStation Vita sales are currently at the bottom end of the company’s expectations. “I would say it’s on the low end of what we expected,” he explained, adding that it takes time before a system can be declared successful."

At least Sony realizes that Vita isn't selling well, which is fantastic news! By Sony realizing that their sales aren't successful early on, they might do something to rectify this situation. Nintendo acknowledged it and did something about it with the 3DS and look how that's turning out... Nintendo is now on the verge of 30 million 3DS systems in just under 2 years! I think that the Vita could see similar success as long as they implement a similar strategy, more software and a significant price-drop. It's the only logical decision, I don't think that bundles are the answer in this case, though appealing, they aren't as appealing as an actual cut in price.

[joeorc]

" I don't think that bundles are the answer in this case, though appealing, they aren't as appealing as an actual cut in price."

that not an easy solution as many people think.

Sony's PSVita's hardware is not like the Nintendo offering's expecting them to price cut real soon is most likely not in the card's. Just because Kaz know's what the problem is does not mean they will be able to do that fast enough. It also does not mean they really have to as long as they maintain steady support. which they are.

Price cutting most likely is not going to be in the cards sooner rather than Later. Sony would rather sale greater number of PSVita's in year's 4 to 6 than year's 1 or 2 if that means they take way less of a loss and make far greater profit on the sales Later. look at the PS3. Sony is in the same position as they were in with the PS3 was vs' the xbox360 as they are now with the PSVita vs the Nintendo 3DS only this time, Sony has Xperia smartphones along with HTC, Asus and Playstation Mobile to sell more software in this market than just the PSVita all by itself for Playstation mobile games to be sold on as a their only Mobile game platform aside from the PSP!

think about that for a sec. Sony invest's 1.4 billion in Sony ericsson, and invest's large sums of money to Playstation Mobile, do people reallly think Sony is only going to count only on the Playstation Vita as their only handheld to sell Playstation Game's on?

Sony is looking at Playstation more as a Eco system now than just a "game console"

[YoungPlex]

I do agree with you however, Sony can NOT let Nintendo continue to dominate the handheld market the way it has. If they want to truly break into the market they need some sort of plan and sweeten the deal a bit. I do understand that they have a 10 year plan for the Vita but realistically it wont happen. Yesterday already showed that there are some real viable options and threats that are entering the market fast. Nintendo is pretty secure in the handheld dept. simply because of it's price, and software appeal. They also have the glasses free 3D thing going that no one else is doing at the moment. Sony is counting on power but I really don't see that being the selling point for me in the very near future, it will be a combination of price and key software that drives that system. I guess we'll see what Sony will do as the months come about, but I really don't think that they'll keep the Vita at this price for much longer. Also, in terms of power, the Vita IS in a league of its own, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a dedicated handheld same as the 3DS. They may not be directly competing for the same audience but at the same time they do want every kind of gamer to buy one.

[joeorc]

"If they want to truly break into the market they need some sort of plan and sweeten the deal a bit. I do understand that they have a 10 year plan for the Vita but realistically it wont happen. Yesterday already showed that there are some real viable options and threats that are entering the market fast. Nintendo is pretty secure in the handheld dept. simply because of it's price, and software appeal. They also have the glasses free 3D thing going that no one else is doing at the moment. Sony is counting on power but I really don't see that being the selling point for me in the very near future, it will be a combination of price and key software that drives that system. I guess we'll see what Sony will do as the months come about, but I really don't think that they'll keep the Vita at this price for much longer."

I think you and other's are Missing the real point.

for one:

"Sony is counting on power but I really don't see that being the selling point for me in the very near future, it will be a combination of price and key software that drives that system."

Sony is not just counting on Power, they are targeting an Eco System, not like the way Hand Held game systems were done in the past for a past market they made the PSVita for the Market that is right now.

Take for instance it requires say a full year for Nintendo to sell what 15 million 3DS's per year, which is fantastic number. but also on the same token Sony is selling over 8.4 million Xperia's per sales Quarter! with samsung and Apple they are even far greater than this.

Nintendo is not the bench mark today for the Mobile market anymore, nor does it have to be. but the truth of the matter is Sony made the PSVita against the smartphones and tablet's not for the market of the PSP or the 3DS. already Nintendo released the 3DSXL think about that for a sec. It is still dual core Arm 11's while smartphones and Tablets are dual core and Quad core cortex A9'S right now.

Look what happened to the dedicated PDA. Sony is not looking at Power as the way they made the PSVita because they are using the same chips in High end devices that are hitting the market.

IT's the same way as Nintendo made the Wii while Microsoft and Sony both Made HD systems. Twin market's targets that is not just based on Power. It is based on being able to make sure your system can remain viable through firmware updates over the long haul, even when the PS3 and Xbox360's replacement get's released they can still be used toward streaming, and multi-use top set box'es.

the Wii can also but not anywhere near the level that Microsoft and Sony has designed their systems for. Now the WiiU on the other hand has changed that multi-use functionality, but in the time Nintendo had to release an HD counterpart just to do such function's as the ps3 an xbox360 already does that's the difference.

Its not just about power its the support cycle you set for your BUSINESS PLAN im pretty sure Nintendo's BUSINESS PLAN SET UP IS NOT Like Sony's or Microsoft's in how they design their systems.

[PS3gamer4life]

The price just to much if they put the price at 150 i bet its go sell out

150 wit a bundle for 2 months i bet it go sell out real fast thrn go back to its regular price

[kingmushroom]

just drop more games and put $1 apps on it and bang!

[CommonSenseGamer]

What, you mean make it more last me a smartphone or tablet?

People completely overlook the importance of apps when consumers are making their purchasing decisions.

[kingmushroom]

i have lots of $1 games on my iPod and would mind buying some $1 apps on my vita.

[remanutd55]

well Kaz i think its time to make a price drop $199.99 for the wifi version, $229.99 for the 3G/wifi version and memory card price drops too
$59.99 for the 32GB one
$39.99 16gb
bundle with every psvita - 8gb

[Furesis]

the only reason i haven't bought one is because of the games there just aren't that many games for me that's the only reason or maybe i have just skipped them because they haven't advertised them well either way i'll but it some day and then it'll be cheaper and have more cheaper games and accessories

[rainslacker]

I say they should go one step further and put in 4G as well, and not keep it locked to one network. Not that it matters to much to me since I won't pay for a data plan, but 4G is where it's at here in the US.

The rest of the stuff I agree with though. Memory card prices hurt, but the price of the system was applauded when it was announced. It took a lot of people by surprise that it would be so low.

I think if they were to do a price drop, it'd only be $20-30, and bundle a memory card and a game with it. Dropping it too much in it's first year doesn't give them a lot of room in the future. Companies like to maximize revenue.

Those holiday sales showed that people were wanting one, but the price was holding them back.

[KING85]

I made this same assumption 2 days ago when someone was asking the question if GTAV will come to the Vita. I was greeted with disagrees because I said there's no way it will come because no matter how Sony reps try to convince us, they know the handheld is not selling how they would like it. As a owner of the handheld and as a gamer I think we have to be honest with ourselves. I don't believe the Vita is going anywhere, especially not the way of the Dreamcast. The fanboyism and denial of people has to stop. If a system is not selling well or vice versa let's call it just that.

[computeSci]

To be honest, your post doesn't really make any sense. No matter how many times I read it.

Are you saying the Vita should just try to sell itself while all the big developers sit on the sidelines and see how it performs before developing for it?

[KING85]

Not saying that at all my friend. What I am noting is that for a such a blockbuster game would not come to the VIta initially. Using resources to port the game over there may not be in the developers best interest. I am in now way saying developers should avoid it at all cost as that would not make any sense. I could see it coming to it like 6 months to a year down the road. The Vita is a great piece of hardware, but like Kaz said it has been selling below what they would have liked. Once more games come out on the platform and an eventual price drop the sales will pick up. What I was addressing was that people try to convince others that it's selling well when we know it isn't. When someone points that out, unfortunately some people get angry. I'm sure Sony has a plan so I don't doubt sales will pick up. More hardcore games and games for the casual market will surely boost sales.

[3-4-5]

Games will save them. The system is solid, but the games are all kind of blahhh.....not all but most. They lack a certain appeal.

Looking forward to Sly though.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

Sonys gonna have to make the PSvita turn around soon.
It Needs:
-A price drop on the memory cards
-A REAL System seller(not a rushed COD game).
-Better marketing
-Get moving in JAPAN(srsly Nintendo is gonna have Dragon quest, Monster Hunter, and now POKEMON all on 3DS this year all of those sell big in Japan).

But im not sure Sony can even afford to price drop it.

[joeorc]

"Sonys gonna have to make the PSvita turn around soon."

Have to make it turn around Soon? I mean How soon are we talking here?, 2 months, 3 month's 2 weeks, What do you mean by Soon? or will it be pulled from the sales shelf?

The fact that the systems are still selling, shows this is not like the same situation as the PSPGo. For one do you really think Sony would not bundle the PSVita with the PS3 in the future?

Have you not seen the trend's going on right now?

just look at what Microsoft, Nintendo ,LG, Vizio and Apple, well pretty much every freaking Consumer electronic's company is doing right now. do you really think that Sony want's to be the only company with no presence in the game space when Mobile handheld devices connecting to the living room Hub. IE: a game console, smart TV or a tablet connecting to your TV. do you really think Sony is going to not keep the PSVita around, when to date no other handheld Has
128 MB of dedicated Video Ram for the GPU's in their handheld's.

PSVita is the only one to date that has that much dedicated video ram.

You don't think Sony is not going to do that with the PSVita? Really?

i see many keep looking at this in just the terms of the PSVita against the Nintendo 3DS. The Market does not work that way anymore. Its not just about the Nintendo offering's and Sony's offering's in the Mobile space anymore. Apple and Google are along with samsung,HTC,LG ETC all are making smartphones and Tablets that have such advanced GPU and CPU SOC's inside that they are powerful enough to run advanced games that frankly 6 years ago you would have only found on dedicated game machines.

for pete sake Rockstar games has put GTA III on smartphone's and Tablets. It may be old game but this is running on what is for its basic concept an main purpose a cell phone!

this is not the Handheld game console market of yest'er year this is the handheld game console market of Now!

[boybato]

Your move Kaz...

[phantomexe]

Let me play my vita games on the tv using my vita as a controller.

[BDG]

I think given the choice I would prob just end up playing my ps3 at home but as someone that works away from home occasionally can see how useful this would be. (I currently pack my ps3 every time if I'm away for longer than one night!)
Combine this with a proper remote play = your ps3 everywhere you go on a tv!! That would be excellent.

[BDG]

I have a vita and while it is a great handheld console it just needs more must have games (not crapped rush jobs like Call of Duty)
The good thing with Sony is that they have plenty of 1st party studios capable of providing these games if given enough support so don't have to rely on 3rd party devs worried about getting a significant return.
My only gripe with the machine is memory cards! Pretty much everyone who owns one says this is their main downside and many put off buying one may well see this as a reason not to purchase. These cards need to come down in price to make downloading electronic gaming more affordable.
Personally I would just stop producing the 4GB and 8GB cards altogether and bring the prices down to £20 for 16GB and £35 for 32GB (still overpriced compared to other memory cards but just trying to be realistic)
Maybe even release a 64GB card for high users at £55
In addition, all ps vitas should be bundled with at least 32GB memory cards to make purchase more attractive and remove any barriers to potential sales. Remember even non tech people generally have read about their mobile phones etc having x amount of memory (usually 16 or 32 GB min) so will not be very impressed when they see the limited memory provided by the out of the box vita (even if you can get a bundled 4GB card) Personally I would just stop producing the 4GB and 8GB card altogether and bring the prices down to £20 for 16GB and £35 for 32GB

[testerg35]

So since Kaz said the Vita isn't selling well, then can the Sony fans alteast say the same?

[Hicken]

“I would say it’s on the low end of what we expected,”

That neither says it's selling well nor poorly. It says they had an expected range, and while the Vita is on the low end, it's still selling within expectations.

That's it. Of course, it means they hoped it would be selling better, but whether that's "poor" or not is speculation.

[MikeMyers]

You know what we need? We need the doomsayers to go away. That means less doom and gloom articles, especially for the Vita that just came out in all regions less than a year ago. Give it a chance.

You know what else we need? Less people who always put a positive spin on things because they like one company more than the others. We don't need people who use the forums as an online resume thinking they will hire them on the spot if they support these companies long enough.

We also need the personal crap to go away. It's an entertainment device. Nothing more, nothing less.

Kaz is looking at the Vita as a marathon, not a sprint. Trouble is the handheld market is very volatile and time is not on his side. 2013 needs to be a breakout year for Vita. That means mass marketing and it also means convincing 3rd party publishers to support it.

[XabiDaChosenOne]

Slow and steady wins the race. Just ask the PS3, best selling console right now. Now ask the Wii...lol

[CLOUD1983]

Imo the reason why Vita sell like crap other than the price & the memory cards price is because it doesn't have quality exclusive games for all tastes obviously, I mean they really believe that ports of older games like the one in PSN & multiplatforms would make some1 to spent so much money on a handheld?

For example what me & other JRPG fans out there can play on Vita? the answer is NOTHING! yep I don't want to play anything on Vita so I don't have any reason to get one, it's so simple.

If they want to increase the sales then what SONY must do is put their own studios to create some appealing exclusives games for it that u cant play anywhere else even on PS3, & then maybe something good will start happen for them.

[LOL_WUT]

I'll just wait for a price drop. I'm pretty sure it's going to happen this year.

[r21]

There was an article in 2012 where a Sony rep said that in 2013 there will be a price cut. Dont know when though.

[o-Sunny-o]

They need to announce games that will come out in 2-3 years like Nintendo 3DS. Animal Crossing, Luigis Mansion, Super Smash Brothers, and Monster Hunter. My love for Nintendo 3DS has declined I played Tales of abyss, LOZ OOT, Splinter Cell 3, Star Fox, Sims 3, Super Street Fighter 4, and Monster Hunter 3 all already...Best titles were Super Mario 3D Land, Kid Icarus and Paper Mario.
PS Vita Shinobido 2, Ragnarok odyssey, Assassins Creed 3 L, Gravity Rush, Uncharted Golden Abyss, Wipeout 2048, Unit 13, Silent Hill BoM, Hot Shot Golf World, Resistance, Persona 4 omg counts, and more. Haven't mentioned coming soon sorry. Doesnt anyone game anymore?