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Sony May Outsource PSP Production
SCE president Ken Kutaragi has confirmed that PSP production may be outsourced to another company, as demand for the PSP is already outstripping Sony's ability to produce. GamesIndustry.biz has the story, which points out that the handheld console is still not released in Europe, an event anticipated in early September. From the article: "At present, there is only one factory producing PSP consoles - the Kisarazu facility east of Tokyo, which manufactures around one million units per month. Sony has previously announced plans to double this figure by the summer as it continues the fight to compete with Nintendo."
This is the most exciting news regarding third party manufacture I've seen all day. I think I'm going to have to go lie down.
...pull some of the PSPs off the shelf that are just collecting dust at stores here in the US!
This doesn't make sense. According to The Magic Box, only 870,000 have been sold this year in Japan. That's only 174,000 per month, and I can't imagine that the demand is high enough in other parts of the world, especially not enough to make 2 million per month necessary.
As others have already pointed out, there is no way that Sony has been selling a million a month.
Sony is looking to outsource the production of the PSP to cut costs. They already loose an arm and a leg on every unit produced and this is a way to reduce the amount of bleeding.
If they do outsource production , they do it to a company that is going to actualy test the TFT screens . . .
I know all the crap about Dead Pixels are to be expected , But as i just said its crap
The screen is really rather small and i have 2 dead pixels on it which is completly silly
IThey are not that annoying and are out of the way but its the principle of the thing , on a screen of that size its fairly resonible to expect no dead pixels and from what ive heard its fairly commen on the PSP.
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
HOLY CRAP, THEYRE SELLING LIKE MAD! WE CANT MAKE PSP's FAST ENOUGH!!
Sony PSP! Only $250 at your nearest store! Go get one before theyre all gone forever!
What, this doesnt seem like marketing BS to the submitter or editor?
I'd be concerned about the quality of an outsourced PSP, but conisdering the reported problems with the Sony-Produced ones (I don't have one myself, mostly due to the fact that I have trouble droping $250 on something that will break if I sit on it yet will fit in my back pocket), maybe 3rd party PSPs will be better.
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Yours is the only post to mention the Nintendo DS so far.
Why is that? Are you obsessed? Maybe you should get off the internet and PLAY A VIDEO GAME.
I will post, but I'm not angry. The DS has been doing pretty darn well. I'm more shocked that Sony, in the face of all this "demand" they speak of, didn't do something to increase production in... I don't know... December 2004 or thereabouts.
Um, care to explain why four of the top ten games in Japan are for the DS then, and why none of them are for the PSP? Perhaps your facts also need some checking.
Dear friend,
Pay attention to reality.
Thanks,
AC
Not only is the PSP selling like hotcakes even at the $250 price point, but the Nintendo DS is essentially dead in the water as far as sales go.
Please pass whatever you are on 'cause damn it must be good!
To those who think the PSP isn't selling a million units a month, I think you may want to check your facts first. Not only is the PSP selling like hotcakes even at the $250 price point, but the Nintendo DS is essentially dead in the water as far as sales go.
....
Please, show us the sales figures that back this up.
What's that? You can't? Ah well.
Nintendo is largely out of touch with what the market wants, despite all of their hubbub about what they think is going to sell.
Nintendo is still around, sticking to their philosophies, and still profitable.
I don't think anything more needs to be said - there's certainly no reason for them to listen to the blind rantings of someone like you.
Outstrip Sony's ability to produce them in quantity? Or outstrip Sony's ability to produce them with quality? I think it's the latter. Over the past month, I've been to my three local Target stores. They each have about 20 PSPs sitting behind the glass cases, in each store. I haven't gotten one myself because I'm still paranoid about defects. But I don't have any worries about finding one to purchase.
I'd be interested if Sony announced this a few weeks/months after launching, but now? This just says cheap last minute marketing attempt. Run the numbers and Nintendo is killing Sony in the handheld industry. Sony hasn't dented the GBA, the DS is outselling the PSP, DS games are outselling PSP games, and Nintendo isn't taking a huge loss for each DS unit sold. Throw in PSP defects and the fact that they delayed the European launch (read : STILL hasn't launched) and Sony is getting burned worse than Microsoft did when it launched the Xbox.
As many have already posted, Sony is almost certainly not selling a million PSPs per month. And they are losing a lot of money for each hardware sale. Both of these are strong incentives to reduce costs. Indeed, the slippage of the European release date may have more to do with throttling the money hemorrhage than a problem supplying PSPs to that market. So I would wildly speculate that what they really want to do is drop the price before Xmas and perhaps even act as a foil to the Xbox 360 release, not to mention compete a little better with the DS on price. In order to lower the price any further, they have to get production cost down. Finally, a 3rd party may have more success in certain quality issues like the oft mentioned dead pixel problems.
This of course is just wild speculation!
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
I can't help wondering if it doesn't have something to do with the fact that you can't actually see a PSP anywhere.
When I go into stores, they all have a display model Nintendo DS you can play with. I haven't seen a PSP anywhere, and I don't know anyone who owns one. The stores won't open them up for demo either. What are Sony thinking--that we're all going to rush out and drop $250 on a handheld gaming system without even seeing it first?
I'm a big Wipeout fan, so I'm looking forward to seeing a PSP. But I'm not gonna buy one until I do.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
I bought mine a few days ago, it's insane how many features they've managed to pack in there. The place I got it from (Best Buy) had only one non-demo model left. The sales guy said they don't often keep a stock of them, so one can assume that (at least where I live) the PSP is doing pretty well. Several friends of mine waited on the DS until the PSP came out, I think once they get a look at it they'll be out there picking one up. :)
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
demand for the PSP is already outstripping Sony's ability to produce
I spit Jolt Cola all over my monitor, you insensitive clod!
"The newly born animals are then whisked off for a quick run through a giant baking oven." --heard on Food Network
Not just that:
http://www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=4781
Two of those games are versions of Nintendogs. The other one, in what can only been seen as a good sign, is the DS Bomberman, which uses both the classic game and art style of the game along with supporting 8-player games. (Are we finally getting a Bomberman equal to the sainted Super Bomberman back on the SNES? I certainly hope so.)
But back to Nintendogs.... that week when Shiba and Friends was #4, the other two games were #5 and #6. Added together, and it would have placed second, right behind a Romancing Saga game (and interestingly enough, displacing the GC Fire Emblem to #3).
So by your rationale and with the table from your provided link.
Its reasonable to say that Xbox is totally fucked GBA is not doing so good, and PS2 Reigns surpreme?
"Nintendo is still around, sticking to their philosophies, and still profitable."
They are surviving on their sales of GBAs and GBA games.
The N64 was a horrible joke and the gamecube isn't really doing so hot, compared to Xbox and PS2.
I have no doubt they will move a decent number of "Revolutions" but I doubt they'll remain relevant to the 18 - 35 segment of console gamers.
Here educate yourselves and quit making baseless accusations and stupid comments.
"Twelve million units apiece of the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable consoles will be shipped worldwide in the financial year through to March 31st, 2006, according to the latest projections released by Sony.
The figures would bring worldwide shipments of the PSP to around 15 million units by the end of the financial year, while the PlayStation 2 - which currently has a global installed base of well over 80 million units - would be within shouting distance of 100 million units."
LTFA
America Drives Global Sony PSP Sales Underground
PSP sales hit 500,000 mark in US
PSP Not Even Close to Selling Out
Assorted PSP news links etc
The original poster suggested that the DS lacked software and wasn't selling. The grandparent was simply pointing out that this obviously isn't true. It's hard to find recent data on the hardware sales (best I got was this) but all signs suggest that it's very possible that the DS is currently out-selling the PSP.
Returning to the question of software: essentially everyone who went to E3 said that there were a lot of very interesting, very promising DS games on display.... whereas it seemed like the PSP had been completely forgotten; the only stuff only display was something like Frogger and yet another racing game. (I exagerrate, but not by much.)
For the last time. Nintendo are doing more than fine. They sell each console at a profit, at the very worst at break even. In the last two genreations of console they have sold more consoles than the last and they have sold more games in each genreation than the last. Their profits increase year on year. In what way is that not successful. It is only in comparison to the gigantic success of Sony that they aren't successful.
I don't think it is necessary to outsource the PSP. If demand continues like this, they can keep the price at $250 much longer and sell more units. When demand starts to drop, just lower the price a little. Demand is not at such a high level as to justify a second factory without it oversaturating the market.
... )
While Sony has always been fond of generating hype with holiday release shortages, most console sales are something of a now-or-never purchase -- if someone wants to buy it, you'd best be able to sell it to them now lest you those them forever.
Current sales figures show that the PSP is ridiculously far aware from any sort of market saturation; it's stupid to suggest that's an issue. And what would "oversaturating the market" be? Everyone who might ever possibly want one already owns five? (Although, given Sony's fault rates,
The N64 was a horrible joke
It wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination, but it still had plenty of titles worth playing. Which games did you play (if you even owned one)?
the gamecube isn't really doing so hot, compared to Xbox and PS2.
More like: the Gamecube and XBox are both getting slaughtered compared to the PS2, the Gamecube is only a small margin behind the XBox in the US, and the XBox is selling horribly in Japan.
I have no doubt they will move a decent number of "Revolutions" but I doubt they'll remain relevant to the 18 - 35 segment of console gamers.
Not everyone has the silly "omg, teh kiddie!!11" prejudice against Nintendo...You might be suprised. Some of us in that age group just like to play good games, even if they have bright colors or cute characters.
Yesterday I hooked up an old NES for my mother to play old classics like Solomon's Key and Pinball (Don't ask, but needless to say she's not in the 18 - 35 segment). I wouldn't say that Nintendo is all about 'kiddie' games. They're about playable games. Some may be too 'twitch'-oriented for her to control, but she could still play a good puzzle game or two. Heck, my grandmother used to soundly beat my mother at Dr. Mario regularly. Neither of them would enjoy Blood, Guts, and a Dash of Gore (TM)(C)(R). They preferred the game.
And if the Revolution allows me to have the NES, SNES, N64, maybe even Gameboy games (here's wishing), I might just have to get two of them. One personally for me to play, one to hook in the game room just so everyone in my family can have fun with games that are fun.
Only worry is whether the DRM will be machine-specific. Not sure if I'd be willing to buy the same game twice...
In my area (Toronto), "pretty darn well" would be a huge improvement over the curernt sales.
I know two people who own video game stores (at completely opposite ends of the city) and the DS is. not. selling.
I'm sure it's selling in Japan, and I'm sure there are markets where it does relatively well, but it's getting hammered by the PSP around here. It says something about software quality when it is the first Nintendo system ever that I haven't bought as soon as it came out. This is not a troll....I'm a Nintendo fan, but I'd rather play a game than a concept.
If you could be anything you want, I'll bet you'd be disappointed.
Maybe you should quit thinking about things in terms of games _versus_ concepts. Jeez, that word is getting as overused and as cliche as the word "gimmick" nowadays. What new controller technologies, new screen layouts/aspects have ever not been new concepts (or gimmicks)? Besides, other than the yet-to-be-released Nintendogs and the yet-TBR Electroplankton, what "concepts" are you talking about that aren't games? When I look at the DS racks, I see only 100% games, more than half of which I now own. (And when I look at the PSP racks, I see half overpriced games, and half overpriced UMD movies. ^_^)
The DS has some great games out there that can only be played on the DS. That exclusivity comes from more than just the ordinary reasons; it would be impossible (or just not fun) to play these games on systems without the DS' full featureset. If that's what's bothering you, perhaps you should turn your head whenever anything new and different gets released. Heaven forbid that you should experience things differently than before. Even worse when somebody releases a product that the competition can't match, right?
That said, I really don't doubt your anecdotes. You have a sample set of two sources in different parts of Toronto telling you that the DS isn't selling. However, I don't think it says a damn thing about software quality when the DS is the first Nintendo system Tom Courtenay hasn't bought on launch. For me, it was the GameCube * (I waited for the first price drop), but I'm not going to pretend that this has any bearing on other people.
* So yes, since then I've bought my GBA SP and DS on their launch day mornings.
I don't think it says a damn thing about software quality when the DS is the first Nintendo system Tom Courtenay hasn't bought on launch.
Chalk it up to arrogance, but I think my taste is fairly open-ended when compared to a large chunk of the gaming population. I say that only because I do own just about every system, and I'm willing to take a chance on almost any type of hardware/software.
The fact remains that for me, the DS hasn't been even remotely compelling. From the time I've spent on the system, it seems to feature a high percentage of "average" games. I think the system has excellent potential, but right now all I've been exposed to are ports and short "diversion" games (Yoshi, Wario Ware, the rubbing game etc.). This is coming from someone who paid cash money for Seaman (there's a joke in there somewhere).
If I'm not willing to pick one up, do you think Joe-Manhunt is going to want one?
The PSP isn't much better either, so I'm not trying prop up one system while bashing another. I'm just pointing out what for me seems to be a fundamental flaw in the DS line-up...
If you could be anything you want, I'll bet you'd be disappointed.
The DS is doing well, because Nintendo figured out that units sell units. Nintendo not only had 2.84 million DS units on retail shelves within 40 days of launch, they also had countless demo units in stores leading up to launch.
Sure the PSP is selling better now in North America. It is the new thing. The early DS adopters already have one, because Nintendo didn't skimp on production when demand was high. This is my point. Many more people have DSs than PSPs, and Sony's refusal to make the investment in production early on is one of the reasons.
I'd rather play a game than a concept.
There are slim pickings for both systems as far as games are concerned, but I already have a GameCube and a PS2. I bought my GBA for the type of games the big consoles wont have, and I have my DS for the same reason. I've been happy with the games so far, and the best is yet to come.