Playstation 5 [PS5] [Release November 12 2020]

[Deleted member 11852]

I really don't think that not raising the price would have in any way impacted whether Sony stay in business or not. Playstation is hugely profitable for Sony - one of their very few profitable arms - so this is why the move has a tinge of greed.

I don't disagree, it's about margins and appetite for losing margins. Sony's bottom line has been particularly hit because the vast majority of their earnings are secured abroad (from Japan) and get hit on perpetual weak/dollar/euro/sterling exchange rates more than company's headquartered in the the US.

I don't think that Sony entertains any unprofitable business arms, the movie arm is one that sticks out as being hammered by covid/lockdowns, and the occasional box office bomb, but overall they make a healthy profit. According to the their last statement, all of their business arms were profitable. You may recall that during their financial troubles of 2004-2008, Sony decided to no longer allow profitable business arms to float unprofitable ones.

PlayStation does make Sony a fair bit, but it's also one the divisions that also burns though a lot of R&D and takes a lot of risk. If one of their AAA games underperforms, that's a chunk of money lost - and that's how a lot of companies look at that kind of manpower/resource/time investment - profits below expectations. Production issues for PS5 may mean PS5 is significantly under-speeding compared to how many consoles/games they could sell if they could keep the things on the shelves.

 

[Nesh]

Well, we are living in a profit driven society and nor a resource/need driven society. What did we expect.

 

[orangpelupa]

I don't disagree, it's about margins and appetite for losing margins. Sony's bottom line has been particularly hit because the vast majority of their earnings are secured abroad (from Japan) and get hit on perpetual weak/dollar/euro/sterling exchange rates more than company's headquartered in the the US.

I don't think that Sony entertains any unprofitable business arms, the movie arm is one that sticks out as being hammered by covid/lockdowns, and the occasional box office bomb, but overall they make a healthy profit. According to the their last statement, all of their business arms were profitable. You may recall that during their financial troubles of 2004-2008, Sony decided to no longer allow profitable business arms to float unprofitable ones.

PlayStation does make Sony a fair bit, but it's also one the divisions that also burns though a lot of R&D and takes a lot of risk. If one of their AAA games underperforms, that's a chunk of money lost - and that's how a lot of companies look at that kind of manpower/resource/time investment - profits below expectations. Production issues for PS5 may mean PS5 is significantly under-speeding compared to how many consoles/games they could sell if they could keep the things on the shelves.

Interesting. So their TV business and phone business are finally profitable again.

Many years ago the profitable ones were Playstation, insurance, movie, and... I can't remember the last one. Maybe music?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Interesting. So their TV business and phone business are finally profitable again. Many years ago the profitable ones were Playstation, insurance, movie, and... I can't remember the last one. Maybe music?

Apart from movies, which can take a hit from a single box office bomb, I can't think of a division of Sony that has been consistently or regularly unprofitable - not unless you wind back over ten years ago when they restructured and canned businesses like Vaio. Using profitable businesses to prop up unprofitable ones is deceptively expensive if you're always chasing that elusive profit that never comes.

Now each business has to be profitable to survive and things can turn around fast. PlayStation will definitely struggle this generation compared to last because of the semiconductor shortage has hampered sales to date, and as this eases over the coming 12 months, a global recession will take its place.

According to Stock Informer UK, PS5 consoles (disc and digital editions) with and without bundles are available all over the place.

 

[eastmen]

Apart from movies, which can take a hit from a single box office bomb, I can't think of a division of Sony that has been consistently or regularly unprofitable - not unless you wind back over ten years ago when they restructured and canned businesses like Vaio. Using profitable businesses to prop up unprofitable ones is deceptively expensive if you're always chasing that elusive profit that never comes.

Now each business has to be profitable to survive and things can turn around fast. PlayStation will definitely struggle this generation compared to last because of the semiconductor shortage has hampered sales to date, and as this eases over the coming 12 months, a global recession will take its place.

According to Stock Informer UK, PS5 consoles (disc and digital editions) with and without bundles are available all over the place.

I don't think the cell phone portion is doing that well. But aside from that Sony sold off or shuttered a lot of the problematic companies .

Did Sony announced they are getting out of the DLSR game ? I know Cannon and Nikon are exiting and sticking moving to mirrorless.

 

[PSman1700]

I don't think the cell phone portion is doing that well. But aside from that Sony sold off or shuttered a lot of the problematic companies .

Did Sony announced they are getting out of the DLSR game ? I know Cannon and Nikon are exiting and sticking moving to mirrorless.

PlayStation and mobile are the most struggling i think. Their mobile devices are very good, its primary the OS updates which you only get two years. Their phones where much more competitive a decade ago (Z1 compact etc).

 

[Cardassian Bob]

I don't think the cell phone portion is doing that well. But aside from that Sony sold off or shuttered a lot of the problematic companies .

Did Sony announced they are getting out of the DLSR game ? I know Cannon and Nikon are exiting and sticking moving to mirrorless.

Everyone is moving away from DSLR and Sony is still the leader in mirrorless cameras.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I don't think the cell phone portion is doing that well. But aside from that Sony sold off or shuttered a lot of the problematic companies .

That park of the business is profitable but they issued a cautionary statement about the China market. Apple and Samsung did likewise.

Did Sony announced they are getting out of the DLSR game ? I know Cannon and Nikon are exiting and sticking moving to mirrorless.

I don't know, I've not owned a "proper" camera in years.

 

[eastmen]

That park of the business is profitable but they issued a cautionary statement about the China market. Apple and Samsung did likewise.



I don't know, I've not owned a "proper" camera in years.

Profitable and doing well aren't the same things. I really only know about the dlsr stuff cause my wife was going to upgrade her 10 year old canon and when researching the new models we came across the stories. Her t3i still takes better pictures and any camera phone I have seen. The new mirrorless canons are also simply amazing.

 

[London Geezer]

Profitable and doing well aren't the same things. I really only know about the dlsr stuff cause my wife was going to upgrade her 10 year old canon and when researching the new models we came across the stories. Her t3i still takes better pictures and any camera phone I have seen. The new mirrorless canons are also simply amazing.

Most DSLRs/Mirrorless even from many years ago will still take better pics than any phone camera today, the sensor size will always be a huge advantage that you can't get around, and that's before we get into the lenses of course.

What does help phone cameras of today is the processing/software behind them, and also the fact that they're always in our hands.

 

[orangpelupa]

Most DSLRs/Mirrorless even from many years ago will still take better pics than any phone camera today, the sensor size will always be a huge advantage that you can't get around, and that's before we get into the lenses of course.

What does help phone cameras of today is the processing/software behind them, and also the fact that they're always in our hands.

to me, its not the sensor size, but the lens.

as currently "ai stuff" can do magic with sensor size. but they still failed miserably to emulate lenses.

this got me thinking, how's PSVR2 lenses gonna be?

 

[Cardassian Bob]

to me, its not the sensor size, but the lens.

as currently "ai stuff" can do magic with sensor size. but they still failed miserably to emulate lenses.

this got me thinking, how's PSVR2 lenses gonna be?

Ai can't make up for sensor size. Full frame sensors are pushing over 60MP and medium formats up to 150MP.

Sharpening and upscale add artifacts and blur. The opposite of the goal of sharp focus and detail.

If you think DF if is anal pouring pour over still images captured from video, image a professional photographer over actual stills.

 

[orangpelupa]

Ai can't make up for sensor size. Full frame sensors are pushing over 60MP and medium formats up to 150MP.

Sharpening and upscale add artifacts and blur. The opposite of the goal of sharp focus and detail.

If you think DF if is anal pouring pour over still images captured from video, image a professional photographer over actual stills.

now we are bleeding into resolution instead of sensor size. Phones cameras have been doing more than 100MP for years (this one from 2019).

my point about sensor size compensated via AI stuff was about sensor size stuff, like dynamic range, noise, and low-light photography. Google pixel lines are one of the best to demonstrate the magic of AI to compensate for tiny sensor size.

and now we are way out of topic

 

[Cardassian Bob]

now we are bleeding into resolution instead of sensor size. Phones cameras have been doing more than 100MP for years (this one from 2019).

my point about sensor size compensated via AI stuff was about sensor size stuff, like dynamic range, noise, and low-light photography. Google pixel lines are one of the best to demonstrate the magic of AI to compensate for tiny sensor size.

and now we are way out of topic

That's 108MP on a tiny sensor compared to a full frame 35mm.
The size of the camera sensor is directly proportional to the dynamic range, colour depth and low light performance.

 

[orangpelupa]

That's 108MP on a tiny sensor compared to a full frame 35mm.
The size of the camera sensor is directly proportional to the dynamic range, colour depth and low light performance.

And those sensor stuff were compensated via AI magic. Google pixels are the best examples, allowing Google to use the same ancient sensors for pixel 2,3,4,5,6a and stay competitive in picture quality.

AFAIK there's no phone doing AI magic for resolution yet. You can do it in post tho.

 

[BRiT]

PS5 and PS4's Lead Engineer Is Retiring from Sony - IGN

Sony hardware architect Masayasu Ito, who led the engineering work on both PS4 and PS5, is retiring at the end of September.

www.ign.com

 

[PSman1700]

I see negativity in the ign/fb comments sections, mainly blaming this guy for supporting Mark Cerny's weird ideas for the PS5. Well, its not Ito's fault to say the least.

 

[Cardassian Bob]

I see negativity in the ign/fb comments sections, mainly blaming this guy for supporting Mark Cerny's weird ideas for the PS5. Well, its not Ito's fault to say the least.

What weird ideas, pray tell?

 

[PSman1700]

What weird ideas, pray tell?

Il leave it at ign forums and fb comment sections. Would only trigger users.

 

[Nesh]

I see negativity in the ign/fb comments sections, mainly blaming this guy for supporting Mark Cerny's weird ideas for the PS5. Well, its not Ito's fault to say the least.

Whats so weird about PS5? If it's just fanboyish ignorant talk his "weird ideas" are as good non existing.
Marc Cerny helped the Playstation return back to what made the original PS1 such a success with both the PS4 and the PS5. So why even bring such pointless remark?