The Making of Sony play station

Abstract

On 9 September, 1995, when Sony Computer Entertainment introduced the PlayStation game console in the North American market, it created history. In the very first weekend, more than 100,000 units were sold. In the first six months, over a million units were sold. Like Japan, America and Europe too embraced the PS-X as the next-generation console of choice. Released in 2000, PlayStation 2 (PS-2) sold more copies in a single day than any gaming console in history. Since then, the combination of superb hardware, ease of software development, and the CD format itself has made the PS-2 very popular. Experts opine that Sony''s business model, by offering lower risk and more creative freedom for developers and publishers has made PS-2 the system of choice for the top game creators. Recently, Sony has faced competition from Microsoft''s gaming console, the XBox. The XBox is positioned as the vehicle for delivering not just a gaming experience, but a whole gamut of entertainment avenues through Microsoft's MSN network. Sony plans to release PlayStation 3 (PS-3) by 2005. It has invested heavily in the fabrication line for the PS-3. The case can be used to explain how technologically sophisticated products are developed and marketed.

INTRODUCTION

Sony, the world's leading consumer electronics firm made a host of products, including PCs, digital cameras, Walkman stereos, and semiconductors. TVs, stereos, and other consumer electronic products accounted for more than 60% of Sony's sales. Sony also had a strong presence in the entertainment industry, including recorded music and video (Sony Music), motion pictures (Epic and Columbia), DVDs, and TV programming (Columbia TriStar).

Background Note

Sony began in a bombed out Department Store in Tokyo in 1946. Masaru Ibuka, an engineer, and Akio Morita (Morita), a physicist, invested about £845 to start a company with 20 employees repairing electrical equipment and attempting to build their own products. The turning point came in 1954 when Tokyo Tsuchin Kogyo, as the company was named, obtained a license to make transistors. The transistor had been invented in America but it had not been applied to radios, which were valve driven appliances. Sony made Japan's first transistor in May 1954 and the first all-transistor radio.

Sony launched the first home video recorder (1964) and solid-state condenser microphone (1965). Its 1968 introduction of the Trinitron color TV tube began another decade of explosive growth. Sony's Betamax VCR (1976), lost to rival Matsushita's VHS, which became the industry standard. However, 1979 brought another success to Sony, the Walkman personal stereo.

Pressured by adverse currency rates and competition worldwide, Sony used its technology to diversify beyond consumer electronics and began to move production to other countries. In the 1980s it introduced Japan's first 32-bit workstation and became a major producer of computer chips and floppy disk drives. The purchases of CBS Records in 1988 ($2 billion) and Columbia Pictures in 1989 (a $4.9 billion deal, which included TriStar Pictures) made Sony a major force in the rapidly growing entertainment industry.

 

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        Case Code   BSTA089
   Case Length    13 Pages
              Period    1966 - 2003
 Organization     Sony
        Pub Date     2003
Teaching Note    Not Available
     Countries    Global
      Industry    Entertainment

Issues

Sony; PlayStation II; PlayStation; Video games; Video gaming system; DVD; Microsoft; Vendor development; Linux; .Net; Entertainment industry; XBox; 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit systems; PlayStation Portable (PSP); Nintendo