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Sony Delays PSX To 2005 In U.S.
Thanks to Bloomberg.com for its story revealing Sony is delaying the American release of its PSX PlayStation 2/digital video recorder combo device until 2005, allegedly "because the device may not appeal to U.S. consumers", according to the article. Dick Komiyama, although not explicitly stating these worries, said: "We're working very hard to make the technology feasible for U.S. consumers", and analyst Masayuki Ito argued: "'Delays give a bad impression... Investors probably didn't have high expectations for the product' because it has had little appeal in Japan." We recently discussed the debut of an enhanced PSX in Japan, as well as earlier issues with last year's Japanese launch.
I am very very convinced once this thing is marketed, it will cause mass confusion in the US. Is it me or wasn't PS1 first called PSX before PS2 came out. Why the hell did Sony pick such a similar name to represent a new product. How about PS2.5 or PS2++ or PS special edition or something.
Although Microsoft has stated that they intend to release in 2005, Sony don't seem as keen to do so (and really, with their current sales why would they?). They have announced they will start production, but that means very little, who knows when the console will actually ship.
On the other hand, if Microsoft do ship in 2005, and Sony aren't ready, Microsoft may enjoy huge success with no competition. But say Sony were to release their PSX at the same time as the new Xbox... it might not outsell it, but it will probably still get a bunch of sales - it plays all existing games, has all that added functionality, and happens to look sexy as hell.
I wouldn't be suprised if the delay in the PSX release is just to align it with the new xbox - that way they may hurt the xbox release enough that it doesn't get the critical mass the Playstation and Playstation 2 did.
On the price issue, I'm right there with you. Considering I could score a dual-tuner HDTV (both OTA and satellite) PVR for $999, it's not a good deal, and as you point out much better deals can be hand at the cheap end. I will note, though, that the prices you gave for TiVo didn't include the price of monthly or lifetime subs, so it's not QUITE as disproportionate as you make it out.
Second, while the PSX is damn expensive, it's actually not poorly priced for Japan. Sure, you can get a Tivo for a lot cheaper in America, but there is no Tivo in Japan. The average hard disk TV recorder thingy starts at $500 and goes up here, so the PSX is about the price of buying a PS2 and a hard disk recorder anyway, if not a bit cheaper.
I think the point is even a $500 hard disk recorder is a niche product in Japan - these things just aren't as popular as they are here - so the added expense of the PSX there just makes it even more unpopular. And if it's unpopular in Japan, it'll be even less popular here, where DVR's are even cheaper.
It just seems like a pretty poorly-conceived device all-around. It's not particularly appealing in either country - in Japan because DVR's are not that big to begin with, and in the US because other DVR's are so much cheaper.