Stringer On Kotick's Threat: "He Likes To Make A Lot Of Noise"
See Full ImageSony CEO Howard Stringer has never been one to mince words. Therefore, his responses to recent questions concerning a PlayStation 3 price cut, Activision's threats, and the recession were predictably short and to the point.
Stringer, along with Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, arrived at the Allen & Co conference in Sun Valley, Idaho on Tuesday, and Stringer replied to some queries posed by Reuters. First on the agenda was addressing Kotick's widely known threat that Activision Blizzard might stop supporting the PlayStation brand if Sony didn't drop the price of the PS3. Analysts dismissed the threat as just nothing more than hot air and of course, logical humans knew the world's biggest video game publisher wasn't about to eliminate 45% of any product's sales potential by not delivering it to PS3 owners. Stringer didn't have much else to say:
"He likes to make a lot of noise. He's putting pressure on me and I'm putting pressure on him. That's the nature of business."
Then Stringer was asked about the logic of failing to issue a price cut, to which the CEO promptly responded, "I [would] lose money on every PlayStation I make -- how's that for logic." He also clarified that Sony has no intention of selling off any of their assets and as for the recession, he sees "green shoots but it's a very light shade of green." In other words, he sees the economic situation in most of Asia rebounding and China may have hit bottom (which of course would allow it to rise back to the top). Stringer had commented before that Sony would have to ride out the storm posed by this recession, and it seems they've done exactly that thus far.
As for a price cut...well, like we've been saying all year, you probably shouldn't expect one until fall, when the supposed Slim PS3 hits the market.
7/8/2009 Ben Dutka
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Comments (Beta)
TheHighlander
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 11:09:19 AM
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I still believe that Sony has done the right thing by not dropping it's price early. It's not an easy decision for them I am sure, they have to weigh the potential of greater sales along with greater unit losses if they cut the unit price against lower sales and the constant barrage of PR along with not losing $100 per unit sold. Personally, I think that a business exists to make money, at very least to break even with your costs. So I'll defer to Sony on their pricing, they'll cut it when it's the right time for them to cut it. Either way, PS3 isn't going anywhere soon, it's here to stay, so folks like Kotic need to put up or shut up.
6 up, 0 down
TheHighlander
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 11:21:56 AM
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englishgolfer
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 12:01:30 PM
*runs and gets the popcorn*
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tes37
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 4:35:26 PM
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Nynja
Thursday, July 09, 2009 @ 11:45:40 AM
**Correction: No "person or company" has been able to maintain top spot forever.
Last edited by Nynja on 7/9/2009 11:47:11 AM
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Jawknee
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 11:17:18 AM
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5 up, 1 down
Arvis
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 3:22:55 PM
...you know, once the double entendres start, describing the experience of eating ANY food sounds dirty.
-Arvis
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brighat1971
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 11:46:15 AM
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4 up, 1 down
Metal Head
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 11:54:08 AM
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Kangasfwa
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 6:20:23 PM
Yes, the CEO is an ass, but why punish the developers with great games?
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zee
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 7:07:24 PM
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sticklife
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 1:26:37 PM
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1 up, 1 down
Masterofallz
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 1:39:06 PM
2006 called. They want their statistics and facts back.
Last edited by Masterofallz on 7/8/2009 1:41:18 PM
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sticklife
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 9:39:50 PM
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Fane1024
Thursday, July 09, 2009 @ 4:10:53 PM
Second, sticklife was more-or-less right, according to the most recent rumor.
Third, while I believe Sony should have gone with small price cuts for the holidays last year and at E3 this year rather than "value added" packs (e.g., 40Gb > 80 Gb; creating the 160 Gb) in order to prevent this sort of rumor mongering, I can't fault them for choosing to sell fewer units while they are losing money with each unit. They ARE hitting their sales estimates, after all. The only problem is that now they have to cut the price by $100 when they finally get around to it or everyone complains that they didn't cut it enough.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 7/9/2009 4:19:00 PM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 1:48:15 PM
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Arvis
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 3:24:33 PM
-Arvis
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www
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 2:00:10 PM
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Alienange
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 3:08:52 PM
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phantomMenace
Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 8:11:29 PM
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Last edited by phantomMenace on 7/8/2009 8:11:56 PM
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___________
Thursday, July 09, 2009 @ 2:37:05 AM
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theve gone the way of ea and turning s*** after s*** after s***.
i mean how many GH games are we getting this year?
theres almost 1 per 2 months, and there exactly the same just new songs that should be DLC not a full 60 purchase.
the only game comming out of them i want is MW2 and i can get that on pc or 360 with the exclusive DLC so im happy.
thats what i hate about the industry these days it use to be about a passion about what you loved now its just seen as a easy way to make a quick buck.
1 up, 1 down
Thirdrail
Thursday, July 09, 2009 @ 8:41:09 PM
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Milonakis
Sunday, July 12, 2009 @ 9:00:34 PM
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somethingrandom
Sunday, July 12, 2009 @ 9:29:33 PM
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Button Masher
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Wednesday, July 08, 2009 @ 10:54:49 AM