PlayStation 3 Delay Official

An anonymous reader writes "It's official! PS3 has been delayed until November in Japan. Apparently, it's because of copy protection technology issues associated with Blu-ray." From the article: "Today, Sony officially conceded defeat to the recent flurry of rumors and speculation, with Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reporting the machine has been pushed back until November. There aren't many details out right now, but Sony says issues over the finalization of copy protection technology related to their Blu-ray disc drive is the cause of the delay. As the news is coming out of Japan, that creates a worrisome scenario for America and Europe."

Comments

Maybe not "flagship," but maybe "most important"

[MojoStan]

No manufacturer in their right mind would voluntarily miss Christmas with a new product--especially in North America. If it involved a company's flagship product, it would mean certain death for that company. The PS3 is not "the" flagship product for Sony but it'll still be a huge setback.

I'm not sure how we should define "flagship product," but if operating income is the most important defining factor, then Playstation probably IS Sony's flagship product (at least to investors). Just look at the breakup of Sony's sales and operating income from 2003-2005:

Sony Global - Financial Highlights

My summary of operating income from the link above:

2003 Operating Income (Yen in billions)

Electronics: 65.9
Game: 112.7
Music: -28.3
Pictures: 59.0
Financial Services: 22.8
Other: -28.3

2004 Operating Income (Yen in billions)

Electronics: -6.8
Game: 67.6
Music: -6.0
Pictures: 35.2
Financial Services: 55.2
Other: -12.1

2005 Operating Income (Yen in billions):

Electronics: -34.3
Game: 43.2
Music: 8.8
Pictures: 63.9
Financial Services: 55.5
Other: -4.1

Of course, Electronics (which doesn't include Playstation) has the largest portion of sales (66.5% in 2005). But Games (includes consoles) brought in the most operating income in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, Games income dropped below Pictures (movies, tv) and Financial Services, but maybe that's because the PS2 is becoming a stale platform.