PlayStation 4 Launch: Too Little, Too Late?

Consumer Electronics

Published: February 21, 2013 6:45 am

Last Updated: December 27, 2013 9:50 am

Is the release of the Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 4 (PS4) enough to turnaround the aging consumer electronics firm? No.

The console is the first major overhaul in seven years. During those years, the entire landscape of the sector has changed. Perhaps least among those changes recently are new products from Nintendo and constantly upgraded versions of the Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox, which now has more features than can be counted.

The entire console business has been quickly crushed by the use of tablets and smartphones as console-equivalent devices. Games can be downloaded to these in the flash of an eye over WiFi or 4G. As the number of these devices continues to grow by the tens of millions each year, the hurdle for a new product from Sony has grown phenomenally higher.

Even if the PS4 is a modest success, most of the balance of Sony’s electronics businesses are in a shambles. Sony did not even bother to show the physical device at the launch, some measure of how poorly run the company is.

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