Sony officially confirms delay of PS3

Posted on March 19th, 2006 by PS3Vault

This news does not come off as a surprise but rather a confirmation to worst secret kept by Sony. It does not take a Sony employee to figure out the delay of PS3 is inevitable due to limited information on the development of PS3 from the company. Also, many analysts and media have agreed that Sony will not meet the proposed launch schedule for the PS3, citing many reasons.

Sony will put off the release of its much awaited Play Station 3 console until November from its planned spring debut because of delays in finalizing its next-generation optical disc technology, the company said Wednesday.
To respond to Japanese magazine Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Ken Kutaragi, head of playstation division, made the apologetic announcement that the launch of PS3 will be delay until November.

Kutaragi said Sony is still trying to finalize the copyright protection technology and other standards for the Blu-ray DVD disc, the format for PlayStation 3, and next-generation video for the company’s electronics gadgets in the works.

“I’d like to apologize for the delay,” Kutaragi said at a Tokyo hotel. “I have been cautious because many people in various areas are banking on the potential of the next-generation DVD.”
Blu-ray preparations were initially to have been completed by last September, but now won’t be finalized until next month, he said.

The news sent Sony’s stock tumbling 1.8 percent to 5,470 yen ($46), and Toshiaki Nishimura, analyst for Yasuda Asset Management Co., said the delay is likely to hurt game revenue for Sony, but the announcement wasn’t a big surprise for the market, which had anticipated a delay. Speculation about a possible delay had been growing in the last few months.

Any thoughts on the effect of this delay? Please leave a comment to share your thoughts.