Bob Caswell

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) has an article out quoting the usual mix of analysts, speculators, and “people privy to Sony’s plans.” I must say that the article’s title of “Sony to Challenge Apple In TV, Movie Downloads” makes the news sound more exciting than it really is.

Perhaps I should give Sony a chance rather than point out the obvious that the company has a very long way to go. Meaning, it’s a bit of a late comer in an already crowded space (Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Netflix all compete here just to name the big boys). I suppose it’s true that first movers don’t always win, and there isn’t a clear leader yet. But good luck to Sony on this one…

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In the latest news from the console wars, Nintendo released sales and profits. Sales soared 90%, fueled by the success of the Wii. Nintendo has now sold 5.84 million of the consoles worldwide. Meanwhile, Sony announced a partnership with Hasbro to combine the worlds of trading cards and videogames using a new Sony video camera designed specifically for the PlayStation 3 console. The camera can recognize trading cards as you place them on a tabletop mat (see picture).

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Walt Mossberg of Wall Street Journal fame has an article out (subscription required) explaining just how much crap his brand new Sony laptop came with. And we’re not talking full programs either; these are trial versions which force you to pay later if you’re really interested. Walt counted about two dozen “craplets” pre-installed, which likely are part of the reason for the over two minutes of time it takes the computer to start up (compared to 30 seconds for a comparable Apple MacBook, ouch!). Sony’s response:

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The research company NPD Group released data for U.S. sales of gaming consoles: 335,000 Wiis, 228,000 Xbox 360s, and 127,000 PlayStation 3s. The Wii continues to outsell all other consoles in the short term but has a ways to go to catch up to Microsoft in terms of total sales. Latest cumulative figures for U.S. sales for the big three: 5.1 million Xbox 360s, 1.9 million Nintendo Wiis, and 1.1 million PlayStation 3s.

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Mike Vorhaus is the managing director of the consulting and research firm Frank N. Magid Associates and is in charge of a fairly in-depth study of consumer trends in gaming. His latest work is that of profiling “lapsed” console gamers. Here’s what he found:

Guys, of course, are the core of the console-games market and are the basis of his study. Vorhaus refers to declining gamer activity as “cliffs” in the gamers life. The first group, 12-to-17-year-old boys, has 78% playing console games at least once a week. But when boys become men and enter the 18-to-34-year-old bracket, they fall off the first cliff. Those still playing console games weekly: 42%.

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The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) and the Financial Times report that Sony may introduce a video download service as soon as the first part of 2007. The idea is to target those consumers that are purchasing movies online through iTunes and other services. The downloads will, of course, work nicely with Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP). Movie watching on PlayStation Portables hasn’t really been that popular, but apparently Sony doesn’t want to wait around till it is. As it is, the company is already late in the game.

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