RSSSony: We Might Have Best Holiday Ever
By Ed Oswald | Published November 6, 2007, 11:35 AM
Sony believes that it may be about to have its best holiday season ever in the United States as it is seeing strong demand for TVs, cameras, and computers.
Fears of an uncertain market seem to be unfounded at least for now as American consumers continue to scoop up consumer electronics at a steady clip. In the wake of the sub-prime lending fallout, many manufacturers of consumer goods have feared that consumers would begin to stop spending.
Part of the reason why Sony is doing well is that it has become more competitive in price. For example, the company has begun to move some of its TV models to below the $1,500-price point, where most consumers can afford. However, it still plans to focus on the higher end of the market -- sets that are 50" and larger.
The same goes for computers. While it will stay out of the budget computer market, the $1,000 average price of its laptops is much closer to the $800 average overall for the market. The main focus going ahead will be notebook models with price points around $1,200 or $1,300.
Such moves are necessary. In an increasingly price-conscious society fueled by discount retailers like Target and Wal-Mart, Sony began to lose market share. Thus, the company had to change its ways or risk being left behind in this new market.
It is facing a similar situation now vis a vis Blu-ray. While the company enjoyed much success throughout the first three-quarters of this year, selling more software and catching up in the hardware department, lately HD DVD has stolen much of Sony's thunder.
Recently, players were sold for as little as $99 USD, some $300 cheaper than the least expensive Blu-ray model. Again, the company must then make the decision whether to stick to its guns on price or begin to compete with its rival.
Sony also did not mention the PlayStation 3 as part of its resurgence in the holiday season. This is probably due to the fact that the gaming system is still struggling to build a solid game library which will likely take until after the holiday season is over.
However, even there Sony has acquiesced to its competitors, releasing a budget system for $399 to quell complaints about its high price.
I wouldn't buy a Sony product anymore after my friends run in with the VERY poorly made Sony Ebook Reader broke on him twice and Sony refused to fix it. I'm a little dishearted with them. They use to be one of the best.
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|Might is the operative word. Kind of like Joey and Dave might get laid for Xmas. Possible but doubtful.
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|They don't have to raise the price in the USA due to the super weak dollar and HIGH costs of transportation?? Alot of Americans are getting their house foreclosed on. Price of fuel through the roof and housing prices falling faster then a rock..
So Sony things People will MAX there cards to buy Sony products??? Time will tell
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|Consumer spending is up, GDP is up, inflation is low, unemployment is low (the last two rarely coincide). Your Doom and Gloom picture isn't telling the whole story.
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|You do realize that it's been nearly 8 years since Clinton was in office, don't you? Are you sure about that assessment?
I'm sorry, but all I really have to do is look at how much I don't have to work with every payday compared to 8-10 years ago to know your perception is more than a little skewed.
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|What do you buy that does not cost more then 2 years ago? Toothpaste? I'm not doom and gloom just watching how much more I spend on everything.
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|Heres all you need
www.patrick.net
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|You may have responded to the wrong individual. I was replying to a response from PhoenixPath. I happen to agree with you.
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|Yes, and unemployment is lower, inflation is lower, and the GDP is higher than at any point in the last 10 years.
But really, let's go into this another time? This is a "Sony is flailing" thread. We're supposed to be laughing at them. :)
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|Prices go up as people have more money to spend. People will also buy "better" products if they have more money to spend. It's not that "Crest" costs more, it's that instead of "Crest", you're now buying "Crest with Whitening" (to follow your toothpaste tack).
It's a good thing. I really don't want to get into a taxes/politics discussion in a Sony thread however, so perhaps we can discuss this another time?
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|Yeah, the URL looks like a reliable source...
I don't even know by your post if you are trying to support or deny my comment, but seriously...nothing better than "patrick.net"??
Even if you are supporting the comment, you couldn't find anything better?
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|Are you related to Davey? Only a fool would blaber without checking everything out. Argue all you want about the site itself, but if you weren't blind you'd see the other links on the right hand side of patrick.net.
Now if your going to tell me that news sites like cnn, latimes are unreliable then you better be ready to prove it.
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|"People will also buy "better" products if they have more money to spend"
thats funny, where's their equity to refinance to be able to afford all that "better" junk?
That's right, equity is draining faster than flushed toilet.
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|This only effects people in the market, and was casued, not by the government, but by idiots betting the credit/interest rates would do as well or get better, and losing the bet. That's what you get for taking out an ARM.
Who are you trying to pin this one on?
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|Then link CNN and LATimes.
I don't follow random links like most zombies on the net, sorry.
As for checking things out? If you're actually interested, look at things like the consumer price index, bea.gov, and so on. Unbiased, unfiltered. CNN and the LATimes are fine, but nothing beats the cold hard facts.
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|I'm not going to point fingers, lets get back to the issue. The point is that overall, there is less disposable income in peoples pockets. If something says otherwise then there is something wrong, because I know plenty of people are losing their jobs over the housing downturn.
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|You can't click the links yourself? All the information is there for the taking, not my fault your lazy.
www.patrick.net
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|Do I know you?
Nope.
Do I trust you?
Nope.
Would I be a complete moron clicking some random link you post?
Yep.
Post facts, link to reputable sites, or don't bother.
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|That is anecdotal at best. The housing market is but one piece of the economy. You can;t argue the economy has tanked by pointing out one issue, and by no means has the majority "lost their s***s" on bad housing decisions. It is generally people who probably shouldn't have been looking for houses anyway (hence the need for an ARM), which they were doing, in large part, because the economy was in very good shape (low inflation, low unemployment, low rates, etc).
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|"You can't argue the economy has tanked by pointing out one issue, and by no means has the majority "lost their s***s" on bad housing decisions"
I agree that the majority hasn't lost much, most people stayed on the sidelines (including myself). All I'm saying is that I highly doubt that high spending will be the case in the near future.
It's only a matter of time before the true extend of the situation is seen. I already know of 3 companies that have gone down the drain recently (1 being my former employer)
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|I'm confused... you can very obviously see what the links go to...
Again, not my fault your lazy.
But obviously you can't handle it, so I'll baby you
http://www.latimes.com/n....story?coll=patrick.net
http://www.latimes.com/n....story?coll=patrick.net
http://money.cnn.com/new...d9d.htm?ref=patrick.net
Thats just 3 links from PATRICK.NET.
Please don't dumb yourself down, you don't seem stupid, but I'm starting to question it.
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|"I already know of 3 companies that have gone down the drain recently (1 being my former employer)"
That sucks. I remember working for a start-up back (gad, it's been 13 years already) '93. Got bought about 6 months after we started operating. Everyone lost their jobs. Win some lose some, I guess.
"All I'm saying is that I highly doubt that high spending will be the case in the near future. "
Based on? The housing market which you admit most are unaffected by, or businesses folding?
If it's the latter, I have to say I haven't seen a rash of that happening. At least, not any more so now than at any other time.
*shrug*
Though you can probably be sure consumer confidence, the GDP and the amount of money you have will be in much poorer shape should Bill get re-elected.
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|Never went to patrick.net. Don;t trust the link. :)
Followed the other links you posted though:
Link 1: Arnie is a RINO. Republican in name only. He's more Liberal than many Democrats as far as his decisions and press are concerned. MIMO, he's pandering to his base. Budget cuts are good. Regardless of what you may have heard elsewhere. Operating on a leaner budget should be the goal of all businesses/government.
Link 2: Fear-mongering of the "housing crisis". It's not anywhere near as bad as reported, and the Doom and Gloom covered in that article reminds me greatly of those "rioting in the stadium" headlines from the fires in cali...which was totally overblown. Again, coming out of Cali... I won't discount it entirely, but I will be highly suspect.
Link 3: Credit. True enough. People got careless and now it's biting them in the ass. The same thing that influenced this is what caused the housing "drama" we're seeing. People felt good about the economy, got lazy, over-stretched their budgets, and are now surprised to see that it comes with consequences. The bubble (their word) burst, they do that. it should be expected.
Even so, budget cuts in cali (probably in reaction to the fire and public outcry more than anything else), the housing drama, and the credit "crunch", the latter two being tied to eachother, do not the economy make.
I do not doubt hard(er) times may be ahead in Cali. You guys have been through hell. I have family members about 30 miles south of San Diego. I've heard the stories. I don't envy that state or anyone in it right now or for the next few years.
Still, Cali will recover. The credit crunch/housing issues will hopefully clear up (without government bail outs). These two things may affect the economy, but they do not steer it. It's worse than it was before they occurred, but it is far from the apocalyptic views expressed on MSNBC and the like.
Man...why are we talking about this in a "Bash Sony" thread???? :p
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|"Man...why are we talking about this in a "Bash Sony" thread?"
I dunno.. :'(
Let us continue the Sony bashing, I do have more fun doing that.
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|Yeah...They, like...suck...
...n' stuff.
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|I have a sony commercial FRIDG.....
works great
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|Did you get a deal because of the missing "E"?
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|YES
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|Well, at least ya got a good deal on it. :)
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|i don't know anyone with a sony computer. most of the salesman (@ bestbuy) recommend you not to purchase one because of the high return rate.
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|Someone at BN long some SNE? This looks more like a pump-n-dump stock story than anything else...
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|Haha that's great.
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|Sony corp is so full of itself. I'll believe it when I see it is my mentality with Sony.
Although the deceitful packaging on the $400 PS3 should sell plenty of PS3's to idiots that are going to be completely unaware that there is no B/C on their new model, at least not until they get home.
Does Sony take away from their 'sales numbers' when a PS3 is returned? I ask because I can see A LOT of people returning PS3's for "not working properly".
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|Hey jackass.
1/ Why would you want PS2 games on your PS3, now there are loads of great games out?
2/ If you want to play PS2 games:
a) Buy a 60GB/80GB PS3.
b) Buy a PS2.
I see your problems, you have run out of bad things to say about the PS3, as your unreliable thing never materialised, and there are now plenty of decent games, and the price is now very affordable..
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|"
2/ If you want to play PS2 games:
a) Buy a 60GB/80GB PS3.
b) Buy a PS2."
Could you recommend some straps to bolt it on?
"Why would you want PS2 games on your PS3"
Why would Sony EVER put the feature into the PS3 to begin with?
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|Hey jagoff were you not one of the ones going on and on about how great it is to be able to play up converted PS2 games on the PS3. You really are an idiot.
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|Decent means anything with a rating of 50% and higher and multi-platform? I'd agree with 'plenty' then.
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|Are they still making games for the PS3? I counted like 12 total at Movie Gallery the other day. I couldn't count the PS2 games there were so many, wonder why they do that compatibility thing? (scratching head)
*snicker*
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|"and the price is now very affordable.."
$399 for a gaming console is very affordable? In what country? Donald Trumpia?
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|He must have hit a raw nerve?
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|For that matter, with the announcement of 160 new games announced for the PS2 through Spring 2008, and the extended support for the product well beyond 2010... why they even needed the PS3 to begin with is beyond me.
Why not simply offer a Blu-ray "bolt-on" for the PS2? :)
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|"wonder why they do that compatibility thing? (scratching head)"
Well, they used to do that compatibility thing. The cheap one doesn't do that anymore.
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|Holy s***, that guy doesn't like you PC. Entertaining none the less.
I'm going to have to rub dirt in my eyes to get that picture of the hairy guy in lingere out of my head.
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|Considering no one (average Joe) even knew what BD or HD-DVD was last Christmas, they might be the hot items this Christmas, or at least they will try and make you think they are. BD will have to match HD-DVD player pricing however.
All it takes is for Fox News or CNN to do a story about people looking all over for a hot Christmas item, and people start to think "I have to have one of those", even if they don't want or need it.
If they were smart, Toshiba would make their players in short supplies at $99 from now until Dec 10th or so and then about a week before Christmas, unload hundreds of thousands of them on the chain stores to fill the percieved high demand.
Everybody wanted a PS3 for no reason last year, only because they were hot items and gave people something to brag about.
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|Like Nintendo have been doing to stupid consumers for a whole year, under the lame excuse of "manufacturing issues" (that curiously, the near identical Gamecube did not have).
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|Joey, we missed you. Still bitter? Get any sleep over the Toshiba weekend? Pick up an A2?
Nintendo knows exactly what they are doing, they made it seem like they are selling out faster than they can produce them, except each store only gets 8 at a time, some get 24 like Best Buy.
They did a great job of mass hypnosis with the Wii. "Here's the hot Christmas item, but you can't have one". But it's August ..... "You still cant have one".
I have never seen item demand go so long after launch, and it's all by design ala Ninendo.
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|Was there a Toshiba weekend? I heard somewhere they were dumping 50,000 dusty HD DVD players that they could not sell.
As for the Wii, consumers are stupid. To fall for this age-old trick is hillarious. Wii offers nothing, as is basically a novelty item, most Wii owners don't even bother to buy games outside the included Wii sports!!
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|Take is easy, kid. Don't get so upset over what other people do, you're like a biiter, nosy old lady, except more useless.
There's the one sided Joey lemming talk we all know and love. You are just bitter because you can't afford all these toys. You had to scrape up money for six months just to get your PS3.
I feed off miserable people like you, you guys make me realize how cool life really is when you are happy all the time. You really make people feel better about themselves, and the good thing is nobody suffers. (nobody important .... that's you)
And to think .... all those Wii buyers could have been potential PS3 customers .... oh well.
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|Dusty or not, they are selling em.
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|god your an idiot if noone's buying games then why have the shelf space for wii games tripled this year wouldn't be suprised to see the ps3 games relagated to a bargain box in the corner to make more room for nintendo... jackass
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|Everything else in the store is bound to accumulate a little dust whenever they clean the PS3 and Blu-ray player shelves.
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|...potential "frustrated" PS3 owners, no less.
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|Very good!
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|Man you didn't even need to bend over to pull that one out of your rear.
You sure are an ACE story teller.
*snicker*
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|"nd to think .... all those Wii buyers could have been potential PS3 customers .... oh well."
I think you just made him cry. He won't be getting his paycheck this week.
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|(Preface: I own no HD players at all!) People looking for budget (aka cheap) X-Mas gifts are going to latch onto the low prices on the HD-DVD players for sure. Just the nature of the beast. Those people you cannot budge them from their cheapness and convincing them to buy one format or another won't work.
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|at the rate gas prices are going it will force all of to cut back for xmas and save every dollar we can.
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|Very good point.
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|First of all, BD or HD-DVD hasn't had "success" due to the fact that no money has been generated by either format. Sony's losses on PS3/BD have been staggering, and I'm sure after someone gets the subsidising bill for these $99 HD-DVD players, they won't be happy as well.
The PS3 will not have any kind of sales close to last years fiasco where everybody had to have them, mostly to scalp on eBay. HD-DVD movie sales should pick up dramatically as there are a lot more HD-DVD customers due to the sale.
I just don't see Sony having a killer Q4. The only one making money this Christmas will be Nintendo, who profits on every console, handheld and game they sell. You won't see a Wii price drop until shelves ae full of them, which I don't understand, they say 70% of them don't get played anymore and are sitting in closets.
It will be entertaining to watch what everyone does this holiday season. I think it will be a contest to see who loses more, Toshiba or Sony.
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|Honestly, what else are they going to say? I mean they're not seriously going to say "I'm afraid we're going to have a poor holiday this year". It would basically be admitting defeat and telling customers not to bother buying their products. Their investors would love that. This really means nothing, and not just because it's Sony. All companies do this.
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|If you noticed, "might" being the key word in the title of this story.
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|I agree. This is a non-story intended to get people to argue.
============================================
BREAKING NEWS!!!!
--------------------------------------------
McDonalds said it plans to sell a lot of hamburgers this holiday season.
============================================
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|I saw a report on the news that said Walmart wasn't expecting a good holiday season.
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|I wonder if Sony talked to them about how to sell a product.
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|I'm getting some popcorn. This should be very entertaining.
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|yea, this is gonna get ugly
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