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Japan¡¯s Sony has seen the successful release of its next-generation game console PlayStation 3, but the date for a release in Korea has yet to be set.
PlayStation 3 is a key product for the company which has staked everything on its development. Sony introduced PS3 in Japan and then the U.S. and will release the game console in Europe in March. But so far, Sony Computer Entertainment Korea has not scheduled a Korean release.
Korea is the world¡¯s test bed for IT products, so many companies release cutting-edge products in Korea first. Sony itself released the high-end digital camera DSC-F828 simultaneously in Japan and Korea in 2003. One month later the product was introduced in the U.S. and European market. So what¡¯s the reason that Koreans are suddenly getting the short end of the stick? For one thing, sales of the game console in Korea are not profitable. The number of PS2s sold here was 1.1 million, but that did not translate into profit. PS2, which is in fact a kind of PC, sells at a mere W189,000 (US$1=W929), which means a loss for the maker. Instead, Sony makes profits by selling game titles. But in Korea, only about 1.9 game titles are sold annually per PS2 unit. The average price of game title is W40,000, and the average sale margin is 20 percent, Sony says. SCEK said the reason is that Korea has a big market for second-hand game titles. Of course, there is also the big problem of piracy.
The newly released PS3 sells for W450,000 to W600,000 in the U.S. and Europe. Market researcher iSuppli says every time Sony sells a PS3, it loses US$240 to $300 because its components are so good they qualify the gadget as a ¡°super computer.¡± While Sony Korea says it wants to time the Korean release with the Europe launch, it has revealed that discussions with HQ are still under way.
While Sony is treading water, its competitor Microsoft¡¯s latest game console, the Xbox360, is seeing growing sales here. Microsoft Korea says the Xbox360 sold 600 a week at Yongsan Electronics Market last summer, but sales increased to 1,500 in November. Microsoft is poised for another boost with the launch of large-scale games for the console, ¡°Blue Dragon¡± and ¡°Death or Alive Extreme 2.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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