The heat is on!
TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp. (6758.T), the maker of Playstation game consoles, may lose its iron grip on the market for game machines as rival Microsoft Corp launches a new model just in time for the holiday season.
Analysts and game fans say PS3 is the sexier game machine with twice the processing speed of Xbox 360, next-generation DVD technology Blu-ray, and seven control pads that can connect wirelessly to the console.
Sony has not disclosed the price of its PS3, but analysts expect it to be the most expensive console ever, costing as much as $500 versus PS1 and PS2's $300 price tag when they debuted in the United States in 1995 and 2000.
Microsoft, which aims to get its consoles into living rooms around the world this holiday season and build momentum by Christmas 2006, is offering a $300 and $400 package for Xbox 360.
But Xbox 360 will have the advantage of being in time for the holidays with an initial line-up of 18 games including surefire hits like "Need for Speed Most Wanted," "Ridge Racer 6" and "Madden NFL 06."
Sony, the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker that dominates the console market with its Playstation 2 (PS2), may lose more than 20 percentage points of its 70 percent market share with much of that going to Microsoft.
"The risks are surprisingly higher than people think because unless they can replicate its 70 percent dominant market position, things are going to be very difficult for them going forward," said Hiroshi Kamide, a Tokyo-based game analyst for KBC Securities.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051121/tc_nm/japan_sony_dc
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