Sony of America CEO Howard Stringer, as one might expect of such a lofty executive, believes that the prospects of the PS3 are on the rise. Also, in line with traditional thinking, he attributes the triumph of Blu-ray over HD-DVD with much of emerging market potential of the console. In a departure from the usual posturing of such figures, though, Stringer conceded that the console was "sort of on life support before."
While speaking at the D: All Things Digital conference, Stringer spoke about the PS3 and its recent success:
"We're coming along, I think," he said in an onstage Q&A at the event. "Culturally, the word 'profit' is not high on anybody's agenda in Japan, and we've turned that around. We closed our 5 percent margins... There's a sort of sense of, we're climbing up the mountain. We're nowhere near the top, but we're halfway up... The level of competence is growing, which is the main thing."
Stringer seems realistic about the company's possibilities in the market and feels that the inclusion of the Blu-ray capabilities give the console an advantage over a product like the Xbox 360. Part of the struggle, of course, is trying to craft a product that increases market share while still providing a profit margin.
Stringer also answered questions about the expanded Sony entity:
In response to a question about how Sony tries to competes in so many different areas of consumer technology, Stringer admitted it is a challenge. Said the exec, "We're a giant department store competing with many companies that are really skillful boutiques."
Sony has done a remarkable job for a company with so many divisions and so many different moving parts, so it seems as though, even if the company "loses" this console generation, it will still maintain its potential to compete in the future.
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