Sony Q1 Results "Grim"

[CorruptedDragon]

They have been bleeding monies for a while. MS having its 1st Quarterly loss ever is much bigger news. But its good to see CD hasn't changed.

So basically, who cares that a company is posting a string of failures (Sony), let's concentrate instead of the company that has had only 1 failure. lol.
Spoken like a true SDF commando. You are going to go far....at least until the Sony ship sinks completely below the water. But as the sink slips under the waves, you will be shouting "Yeah, but remember that time the engine failed for a day on the SS Gates!!!"

[RedRedSuit]

Agree with CD.

[CorruptedDragon]

Agree with CD.

WTF!? You can't do that!!!!!

[murphjp]

So basically, who cares that a company is posting a string of failures (Sony), let's concentrate instead of the company that has had only 1 failure. lol.
Spoken like a true SDF commando. You are going to go far....at least until the Sony ship sinks completely below the water. But as the sink slips under the waves, you will be shouting "Yeah, but remember that time the engine failed for a day on the SS Gates!!!"

No we already know Sony has financial issues, MS has never had them before. So when a company like Ms is having issues, its no surprise that Sony is still having them.

As for console Information the reports don't give enough details, as both divisions are bloated with other items besides the PS 3 and 360. And you can't even compare system shipments due to Sony combing numbers. But both companies numbers seem low.

[Badger3920]

No we already know Sony has financial issues, MS has never had them before. So when a company like Ms is having issues, its no surprise that Sony is still having them.

MS isn't really having financial issues though. They're bringing in a ton of cash. However, they do have a bigger problem - they're having trouble branching out of their traditional markets and keep making shitty investments in an attempt to diversify. This was such an investment, they tried to buy an online advertising firm if my memory serves me correctly, and while they originally valued the firm at something like $6 billion on a balance sheet, it has become obvious that the company is shit and should never be used. Meme aside, basically, they adjusted the number on their balance sheet from $6 billion to $0, and thus reported a huge loss in the quarter. It's a loss on paper though; they paid the cash for this firm a long time ago.

MS is very financially stable even if they're a bad stock buy. Sony on the other hand is a bad stock buy, and they're also financially jacked. I don't really like the whole corporate smackdown thing - this is where it actually becomes real and real people are losing money and risk job loss etc. Not much to gloat about on a message board concerned with consoles.

[Bane]

Thew only concern I have for MS right now is how much stock they're putting into Windows 8. If that doesn't catch on it could be pretty bad, though not devastating, for them.

[Averry]

Thew only concern I have for MS right now is how much stock they're putting into Windows 8. If that doesn't catch on it could be pretty bad, though not devastating, for them.

I would rather have Windows 8 and have it fail then have Windows 7.5 and have it a moderate success.

Microsoft had two decisions, be a safe enterprise company, or be consumer facing company.

Anyways, if they did recess back into an enterprise company it would be like IBM having the Xbox. That would be a weird future. They'd probably sell the division.

And by the way, Ballmer's gotten a lot of shit over the years, but it seems like he's really been slowly turning the titanic around, and reversing a lot of the mistakes that Bill Gates had allowed to happen. (Aquantive) There's a lot of exciting products coming out in the near future, and the art design is lovely. (Xbox metro(soon to be extinct term) not withstanding. Terrible integration of Metro.....but I like the way to could have looked).

The existence of Bing is an interesting debate. They keep throwing money at it...but is the only even possible competitor to Google....and Microsoft has been able to integrate it into their products.

[Onslaught X]

The existence of Bing is an interesting debate. They keep throwing money at it...but is the only even possible competitor to Google....and Microsoft has been able to integrate it into their products.

Integrating it into TV shows pretty well too.

[Badger3920]

Rofl shameless plug, and terrible too.

[twonunpackmule]

WTF!? You can't do that!!!!!

My iPhone actually BSOD because of this. True story.

[eng050599]

Another Windows 8 concern is the price point that MS has set. They're going to be selling Windows 8 far below the usual cost for a MS OS. Analysts are expecting for this to impact the revenue for the next 3 quarters, with the expectation that the Surface hardware will make inroads and supplement the reduced software revenue. If Win8 and Surface don't take off, the company will feel it in their earnings. MS does have enough capital to weather pretty much any short-term losses though.

[rm082e]

I really hope Kaz can save the day.

[Averry]

Another Windows 8 concern is the price point that MS has set. They're going to be selling Windows 8 far below the usual cost for a MS OS. Analysts are expecting for this to impact the revenue for the next 3 quarters, with the expectation that the Surface hardware will make inroads and supplement the reduced software revenue. If Win8 and Surface don't take off, the company will feel it in their earnings. MS does have enough capital to weather pretty much any short-term losses though.

Most people buy it with a new PC, which, to the best of my knowledge, Microsoft hasn't dropped the price to OEM's.

The upgrade pricing is a long term strategy to get more people on the new system to spur app development, and quite possibly even a way to offset revenue by volume.

[hdinred]

I think this nails it pretty well:

Overall, despite Sony's attempt to claim that the Vita's sales are making up for falling sales elsewhere, the absolute root of the problem clearly lies with the firm's newest launch. PS3 has been a solid performer in the past few years; it's late in its lifespan, meaning there is plenty of scope to drive it forward through price cutting or redesigned hardware. Besides, it's got a huge installed base already, meaning that it's well-established as a platform for developers. Vita, however, is an utter flop - a label I didn't want to apply hastily, but can it really be denied at this stage, even by the console's most dedicated fans? It's clear that if Sony wants to reverse that situation, it's going to have to accept deeper losses through a steep price cut, as well as significantly ramping up its software efforts.

Mobile gaming and smartphone advocates will nod sagely and a little triumphantly at that, but the fact is that Vita's failure wasn't written in the stars. The 3DS XL is off to a good start and the 3DS platform overall has now managed almost 20 million sales; the market for dedicated handheld hardware is not dead. Smartphones and tablets have made it harder to sell people handheld devices, but by no means impossible. Vita's problems are not with the basic concept of a dedicated games machine, but with the execution - the pricing, the marketing, the functionality, the software, perhaps even the hardware itself. Some of those things can be fixed, but it'll be painful and expensive to do so. Whether Sony has the wherewithal to do so, and to do so quickly, will be an important pointer for what kind of future this embattled company has in the console business as a whole.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...deflates-again

[CorruptedDragon]

I think this nails it pretty well:

If the Vita could play UMD's as well, I would pick one up for sure.
I tried one out in the store last week and it wasn't bad. I kinda liked it but the selection of games was just ugh.

Although, my favorite part of the original psp was the ability to run and play emulators off of it. (legal roms only of course )