Sony CEO sees 'stalemate' in disc fight

The Associated Press reported on Thursday, Nov. 08, 2007:

Speaking at the 92nd Street Y cultural center in Manhattan on Thursday, Sony CEO Howard Stringer said that Sony's Blu-ray disc format is in a "stalemate" with the competing HD DVD format, chiefly backed by Toshiba and Microsoft.

"It's a difficult fight," said Stringer, "We were trying to win on the merits, which we were doing for a while, until Paramount changed sides."

Stringer also played down the importance of the battle, saying it was mostly a matter of prestige whose format wins in the end. "It doesn't mean as much as all that."

Stringer added that he believed there was an opportunity of uniting the two camps under one format before he became CEO, and he wishes he could travel back in time to make that happen.

Stringer was more upbeat about the PlayStation 3. "We are coming back up again," he said. The CEO said the console is the best-selling console in Europe after a price cut three weeks ago. In the U.S., a recent price cut has doubled sales.

[TheExodus]

Sounds like the cost of Blu-ray is starting to wear Sony down.

[Evil0Angel]

sony+BR camp the one who ended the talk with HD-DVD camp.
if there was only one formmat ,you will see people jumpin from DVD DIRECTLY to the next gen format BUT BUT sony did it again = they screwd the market like they did befor.VHS was already their when they introduced their silly BET-MAX(the problem it only introduce slight improvment at really high coast), now they did it again HD-DVD was there and they jumped with their own format to screw the whole thing up.

but it not as bad as many look at it, if there ws not 2 formt competing the coast of HD-DVD player will still likely be 500$.

BUT BUT BUT he said "...sattlment..." what kind of satlment could it be ?do they have to drop one format ? unfied players(will rise the coast ) ?

[sanderFVCKINcohen]

!!!QUIT STICKING YOUR NOSE WHERE YOU CANT WIN!!!

If they would of just left it be, we would have naturally and efficiently went from "DVD2HDDVD", and they would have been winning the console war by now(I might have had my 3rd PS by now). But nnnnooooooo they got greedy again.

Remember folks, PS3 was made with quality money.Not made from the ground up with quality.

[ruibing]

Then how to do explain all the studios and electronic manufacturers backing up Blu Ray? They obviously liked it in more ways than one since we haven't heard of any major monetary pay off by Sony.

And the PS3 does have a very quality design. It's only fault may be that it packs too much features that ill-informed consumers don't even know about it due to poor markeeting in the past and thus couldn't see past the price. Could it have done better without Blu Ray? We'll never know. All I know is that I wouldn't have it in any other form than how it is right now.

[ktchong]

It does not matter if PS3 is a quality design or is a superior product.

The original Xbox has better quality than PS2. The original Xbox has superior design, power, graphic and build than PS2.

The original Xbox lost to PS2.

It happened to Xbox. So now it's happening to PS3.

It's not about the Cell, Blu-ray, quality, power, potential or the future. Gamers don't care about those craps. Gamers care about games. It's all about the games.

[felman87]

Digital distribution is where it's at. Sooner Sony steps on board with that the better

[rbanke]

Digital Distribution:
Good for businesses, bad for consumers. The ONLY positive for the consumer is that you dont have to get your fat ass up and go to a store.

[felman87]

People who use itunes would disagree with your claim. it's only bad for consumers if they see it that way.

[andy001]

I think it is a mature response from Stringer. He knows that this is not good for the consumer, and he is not complacent enough to think that Blu Ray is guaranteed success.That is a good attitude to have, completely different from the arrogance and shady business practices of the HD DVD owners, Toshiba and Microsoft.

[ktchong]

"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
- Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG's president of global digital business, responding to the outcry over Sony's DRM Rootkit spyware uncovered on its music CDs

"You can look at the software that they sell. All their licensed kid stuff. So, what we're doing with the PlayStation Portable is really establishing a new marketplace, and establishing, frankly, a new beachhead."
- Peter Dille, Sony US Senior Vice President of Marketing, on comparing PSP to DS

“The idea of a handheld rivalry with Nintendo is an irrelevance. Those formats don't appear in our planning. It's not a fair comparison; not fair on them, I should stress. That sounds arrogant, maybe, but it's the truth. With the DS , it's fair to say that Nintendo stepped out of the technical race and went for a feature differentiation with the touch screen. But I fear that it won't have a lasting impact beyond that of a gimmick - so the long-lasting appeal of the platform is at peril as a direct result of that."
- Phil Harrison, president of Sony Worldwide Studios, on comparing PSP to DS in an interview with MCV

"It’s probably too cheap…"
– Ken Kutaragi, Regarding the $499 to $599 price point

"(the PS3) is not a game machine…"
- Ken Kutaragi, Regarding the machine’s beefy hardware architecture

"The name of the game is not market share, it’s how fast we (Sony) can grow the industry."
– Ken Kutaragi, regarding competition from Microsoft and Nintendo

"…for consumers to think to themselves ‘I will work more hours to buy one’. We want people to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else."
– Ken Kutaragi, explaining their marketing goals for the PS3

"We do not care."
– Kaz Hirai, current President of Computer Entertainment, regarding competition from Microsoft and Nintendo

"I don't think the battle would be any different with or without Grand Theft Auto... I don't think it (losing Grand Theft Auto would) hurts us. No, I really don't."
- Jack Tretton, Sony Computer Entertainment America president and CEO

"If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that's been on shelves for more than five minutes, I'll give you 1200 bucks for it."
- Jack Tretton, Sony Computer Entertainment America president and CEO

"The first five million are going to buy it (PS3), whatever it is, even [if] it didn't have games."
- David Reeves, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe CEO

"Microsoft does not concern us. Microsoft is not a technology company."
- Nobuyuki Idei, Sony chief corporate adviser in an interview with BBC NEWS

"A bit pricey."
- Michael Ephraim, Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, speaking about Nintendo Wii in an interview with the age.com.au

"We have a lot of respect for Nintendo, but with a December launch, how much stock are they going to get at a AU$400 price point? What is the consumer offering? So I don't think anyone will do more units than a PS2 this (Christmas)."
- Michael Ephraim, Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, regarding the launch of Nintendo Wii

"Sorry you didn't have the opportunity to buy a PS3 this year, but I'm sure it beats lining up in a queue for hours on end only to be told the store has sold out."
- Michael Ephraim, Managing Director of Sony Australia in an interview with the age.com.au

"There’s this sort of misunderstanding that the Blu-ray disc player for movies is somehow burdening the console with unnecessary cost. That is completely not true... Once we had that storage capacity on Blu-ray Disc, adding the movie playback functionality was extremely cost-effective, [the cost] is actually non-existent."
- Phil Harrison, regarding the wholesale cost of the system’s Blu-ray player

"Nobody will ever use 100% of PS3's capability"
- Phil Harrison, president of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studios speaking with MTV news.

"The PlayStation 3 is a computer. We do not need the PC."
- Phil Harrison, president of Sony Worldwide Studios, in an interview with GameSpot

"I have no concerns about the competition."
- Phil Harrison, president of Sony Worldwide Studios speaking at the Game Developer Conference

"I don’t think we’re arrogant."
– Phil Harrison, regarding consumer perception of Sony

"We're certainly not interested in Gimmicks."
- Kaz Hirai0 E32k6, right before showing off Eye of Judgement.

"Nintendo knows its target audience, because it has really narrowed that down; and it’s pretty much defined by a boy or girl’s ability to admire Pokemon."
- Phil Harrison, president of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studios

"But I fear that it won't have a lasting impact beyond that of a gimmick."
- Sony executive Phil Harrison cuts to the chase with his incisive analysis of the Nintendo DS in gaming paper MCV.

"Consider the US with its massive land and cheap people. Then you look at the UK - a little island where rent and rates are at an absolute premium, and the cost of people is a lot more."
- Sony's take on the consumers, as told by UK Managing Director Ray Maguire to website gamesindustry.biz

http://next-generationsyste...

[jaja1434]

Thats great and all but you got your point across with the first 4 or 5. The whole list was excessive and frankly just annoyed me as I'm sure it will most people, whether they agree with you or not.

[sak500]

Good one roundpeg. The hatered for Sony started from hearing all this krap out of these idiots.

The winner of putting his foot in his mouth is.........IDIOT Harrison..Pls come up and take this statue while touching your feet.

[andy001]

So here I am talking about the Blu Ray/HD DVD battle, and you answer with a whole bunch of PR speak regarding the PS3, none of which came from Howard Stringer, the guy I was referring to, and very little regarding Blu Ray. I can see you are a bit of a ready, fire, aim, type of person. That will be a shame for your future girlfriends (if you have any)

Sales talk is sales talk, its to be expected. It is always the same and has been ever present in every generation of gaming. It is present in many businesses, particularly regarding technology companies. If I had the time and inclination I am sure I could come up with more than a few quaotes from the Xbox team, as Peter Moore was hardly the shrinking violet, even commenting in a recent interview that it was a strategy used by him to market the Xbox.

Shall we discuss the inflated sales figures, manipulated statistics, and outright bribes now, or are you happy to continue looking for out of context sentences from the PS3 sales team?

[nambo]

The Round Peg totally owned you. Take it like a man instead of a whiny kid. First you go on to attack MS and Toshiba for their "shady" practices then complain about peg's response saying I was talking about Stringer, then go on to attack peg personally...first sign you have no intelligent response. Companies are companies and are going to promote their own products, but Sony talks out of their ass so much it make me laugh, yet you Sony supporters lap it up like mindless drones, and constantly defend them. I feel sad for you.

[Husso]

Hes a moron.

Its a disgrace trash like him runs one of Japan biggest corps.

[jaja1434]

Sony is by no means, not even by a long shot, one of Japans biggest corps. Thats not to say its small of course, but compared to some of their manufacturing and telecommunication business its just a small fry.

Anyways I find it odd that he mentions that the war doesn't matter. If that were true I would have thought Sony would have dropped out of it to invest its money into other areas. Seeing as how currently BR is just a drain on their resources. Also kind of a switch from their "HD is dead" approach that they carried for so long.

But thats just me poking holes, so meh. :)

[sak500]

Finally Sony eats the humble pie. If the president can do it so can his minions.

[BloodySinner]

ROFL.

[Vojkan]

"We are not arrogant"- Phil Harrison

reporter:"But Phil this has nothing to do with topic?"
Phil:"We are not arrogant"
Phil:"We have HOME, next year Q2, ok maybe Q4 08, o what the hack Q1 09 and LBP, sometimes in 2009-ups i mean 2008(fake smile)"

Reporter:"Who gives a sh!t! Mirosoft will by then release new system and most like Nintendo will to. You can play your PS3 all the way up to 2015 and your Motorstorm and rubber duck"
Phil:"We are not arrogant!"

[Vojkan]

Sony liars, how can anyone trust what they say if they change their mind by 180 degrees every two months?

They have been saying that BlueRay is future proof and that HDdvd is dead`?And now this crap? How dare they? IDIOTS, all of a sudden(since yesterday) i can't stand Sony and its PR.

They are so going to fail this generation.

[HarryEtTubMan]

He means a stalemate right now... this doesn't mean their giving up... THEIR WINNING... He's saying how it's much tougher and abviously costing them more money than they anticipated. Blu ray will win. You think this is all it takes to take Sony out.

[Cherchez La Ghost]

1.)Toshiba's HD-DVD player surpassed Sony's Blu-Ray player since launch and 1/2 million milestone about to be reached?!

2.) Blu-Ray sold over 2.1 million copies since last year, HD-DVD is slightly half of that number. But "Transformers" sold at least 8-9 million DVD9 copies and Sony won't state the sales records for "Spiderman 3" DVD9?!

3.) You fanboys really riding on the PS3 as the "cheapest" Blu-Ray player for people to buy instead of the "Stand-Alone" players by Sony, Samsung, Pionner and other companies?!

Give credit where credit is due!! I respect this man statements. We as consumers are torn in a senseless fight between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. It would be cool if both camps work together. I like HD-DVD. But if Blu-Ray wins, I have no choice but to revamp my HD collection.

[TheExodus]

@HarryEtTubMan: This is Sony declaring a stalemate in the HD format war, not Toshiba. Now, if Sony is declaring a stalemate it means they have put all options on the table & found that all lead to a Blu-ray loss. I know it hurts, but you can still hang onto hope that MS paid Stringer off to say these bad things about Blu-ray.

[power of Green]

#4 That is the most ridiculous sh*t any idiot has ever said on this site period!!!!.

" mature
I think it is a mature response from Stringer. He knows that this is not good for the consumer, and he is not complacent enough to think that Blu Ray is guaranteed success.That is a good attitude to have, completely different from the arrogance and shady business practices of the HD DVD owners, Toshiba and Microsoft."

You're comment makes me hold my head down and I'm not even an Blu-ray backer nor am I a Sony fan. Whats worse is people are actually agreeing with you.

[andy001]

Do you think it is immature? He isn't doing the usual bashing, he regrets that he may have been able to agree a single format and didn't, and he also states that Sony is not betting the farm on Blu Ray's success, implying that should HD DVD win, then Sony will produce content for it.

Not sure what you got out of his statement, but obviously your reading skills are different to mine.

Howard Stringer is all about profit, and he aims to get all of Sony's different departments working together. If you know that background, then I think it is easy to see he is still focussing on reconciliation, so he can ensure Sony will have a long profitable future, which in the end, is good for gamers, as competition is essential if we are to get the best deal.

I don't know why I am even bothering to try and educate a 12 year old who probably spends his day thinking of new ways to teabag on Halo.

[P4KY B]

I foresee some job vacancies at Sony HQ.

[xg-ei8ht]

I see some vacancies at walmarts - P4KY B i guess your times up/

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Now that HD DVD is such a huge threat, why not take the "can't we all just get along" aproach?

[terrencetmurda]

Did he just pull the plug on bluray?! LMAO!!!!

[Baron79]

he did just pull the plug on BD.Sony could then focus on making games and forget about their stupid movie format. Uncharted looks and feels amazing. I cannot wait to own it and wish Sony would spend all their time making incredible games like this instead of making Spider-Man 1 look like $hit on BD. HD-DVD will win!

[JokesOnYou]

hmmmm, you know something is going on when sony's own CEO says Blu-ray disc format is in a "stalemate" with the competing HD DVD format. lmfao, yep a storm is brewing, because I could have sworn it wasn't long ago that some other sony exec told the world hd dvd was dead, lmfao, maybe micro paid off Stringer=

JOY

[terrencetmurda]

Howard Stringer knows something we don't, and it's got him scared! hmm WB??????

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

IMO I see money with two, maybe it's because I'm an investor but I would have liked two. My Xbot side of me though is saying "suck it Sony" or "you got pwned" LOL