Sony to Sell Updated Model of Standard PlayStation 4
August 21 2016 - 11:20PM
Dow Jones News
TOKYO—Sony Corp. plans to introduce a new PlayStation 4 standard
model alongside a high-end version next month, people familiar with
the matter said, in an effort to maintain demand for the
best-selling videogame console.
With the release of the two models, Sony hopes to attract
hard-core fans and more casual users to its videogame platform,
analysts said. The company has been trying to build a community of
users so that it can earn consistent revenue from subscriptions and
software downloads.
Sony has said that it would hold a news conference at the
PlayStation Theater in New York on Sept. 7. A Sony spokesman said
the company would talk about the PlayStation 4 business at the news
conference.
Sony said in June that it planned to introduce a high-end
version of PlayStation 4 with enhanced graphics capabilities, but
it hasn't publicly discussed plans to refresh its standard
model.
Macquarie Securities analyst Damian Thong said that he believed
the new standard model would be slimmer and less expensive than the
current $350 device. He said it would mark a shift in strategy for
Sony because the company previously stuck to releasing one console
at a time and tried to sustain demand with regular price cuts.
In June, Microsoft Corp. announced a smaller version of its
flagship Xbox One console, called the Xbox One S.
The PlayStation 4 console made its debut in 2013 and more than
40 million units have sold so far world-wide, according to Sony.
That outpaces the Xbox One, which has sold an estimated 20 million
units since its debut in 2013, according to analysts. Nintendo Co.
says its Wii U has sold 13 million units since 2012.
Sony Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai has described the PlayStation
business and related services as the leading engine of the
company's growth.
Ahead of the September news conference, Sony has cut production
of PlayStation 4 to adjust inventory, people familiar with the
matter said. Several major e-commerce websites in Japan, including
Sony's own e-commerce site, said the PlayStation 4 was out of
stock.
PlayStation 4 sales have been weaker in Japan than in the U.S.
Data from videogame magazine publisher Famitsu showed sales of the
console in Japan have been declining slightly in recent weeks.
Nevertheless, stocks of the device are likely to run out as the
company limits production.
"The white model was gone two weeks ago and we just sold our
last black model in stock," said the chief of the videogame floor
at a major electronics store in Tokyo. "Our central purchasing
department warned us we wouldn't get any for now because the item
is simply not in distribution channels."
Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute, said the
soon-to-be unveiled PlayStation 4 consoles are part of a larger
push to accelerate the business that includes the October
introduction of virtual-reality headset PlayStation VR. Sony has
been trying to lure a wider audience to its PlayStation network by
adding nongame content, such as the PlayStation Vue cloud-based TV
streaming service.
Sony has said it plans to ship more than 20 million PlayStation
4 units in the year ending March 2017, up from 17.7 million in the
previous year.
Write to Takashi Mochizuki at takashi.mochizuki@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 21, 2016 23:05 ET (03:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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