No Spring Launch For PS3

[zombie]

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6309230.html

No spring launch for PS3
Delays push next-generation game console to summer earliest
By George T. Chronis 2/21/2006

FEB. 21 | Issues with vital components are going to prevent Sony Computer Entertainment from launching the PlayStation 3 this spring. That's what an extensive Feb. 17 report by Merrill Lynch and Sony's component manufacturers in Taiwan are saying.

"The launch of PS3 could be delayed by between six and 12 months, with the result being an autumn launch in Japan and a late 2006 or early 2007 launch in the U.S.," said Merrill Lynch research analyst Joe Osha. "Sony’s design choices for the PS3 resulted in an expensive and difficult-to-manufacture product, and we think that we’re seeing the consequences of those choices play out now."

Taiwan's DigiTimes newspaper reported on Feb. 20 that Sony will postpone the spring PlayStation 3 launch due to "several issues with its production plans, especially concerning its inclusion of a Blu-ray disc drive in the PS3, according to Sony’s Taiwan-based contract manufacturers."

The reports had an immediate effect on the price of Sony stock. Share values on the Tokyo Stock exchange fell 2.8% on Feb. 17, followed by an additional 4% decrease to 5,280 yen ($44.44) on Feb. 20.

The problem with the PS3's Blu-ray drive is that until last week, the copy-protection specifications had not been finalized by the AACS (Advanced Access Content System license administrator), and production of the drives can't begin until those specifications are finalized.

A temporary agreement on the specs was reached last week. But even if Blu-ray drive production were to start immediately, PS3 units would not be able to ship until summer.

An SCE spokeswoman told the Reuters news service on Feb. 20 that Sony was waiting for the final specifications for Blu-ray drives as well as specifications tied to the input and output of video and sound. "We're waiting for them until the last possible minute, but the launch could be pushed back if they're not decided soon," the spokeswoman said.

Also dogging Sony has been persistent speculation within the videogame industry that keeping the PS3's powerful Cell processor cool within the stylish case unveiled at last May's Electronic Entertainment Expo was proving difficult. The design features eight heat-producing synergistic processors connected to one core processor on the same wafer of silicon. Most game consoles are built around one core processor.

To date, SCE has never publicly displayed a playable PlayStation 3. Development units that have been provided to game developers are housed in computer towers. The PS3 cases displayed at the last E3 expo were empty. And Sony didn't show a playable unit at last September's Tokyo Game Show.

On Sept. 29, SCE executive VP Masatsuka Saeki told Japan's Famitsu Weekly that a February "special event" would showcase playable units, but by last week's Taipei Game Show, the PlayStation 3 was still behind glass.

Sony hadn't said where it intended to launch this spring. Japanese gamemakers traditionally launch first in Japan and in North America and Europe later. The reason for staggered launch windows, as Microsoft Games discovered to its peril last fall with the Xbox 360, is that fabricating high volumes of newly designed components is extremely difficult. The result is an inability to produce enough console units to satisfy the demands of a worldwide launch.

A February unveiling of playable PS3s in Japan or Taiwan would have made sense if a spring launch in that region was a reality. According to a Feb. 16 DigiTimes report, Tetsuhiko Yasuda, SCE Asia’s corporate executive managing director and senior VP of Asia, told reporters that the company aimed to launch the PS3 at the same time throughout Asia.

The next viable launch window for Sony would be either this summer or fall. Although Nintendo Co. broke tradition in November 2004 by releasing its DS handheld first in the U.S., Sony hasn't said it would do the same with the PlayStation 3 if it could not manage a worldwide launch.

This gives HD DVD a spark of hope.