Sony Corp. (6758.T) said it expects at least 380 new PlayStation 3 software titles to become available in the current business year, on top of more than 100 titles currently on the market, driving demand for its latest console that saw a slow start.
"Attractive game software is the key to accelerate PS3 growth over the next year," Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer said at the company`s general shareholders` meeting on Thursday.
Sony`s game division posted an operating loss of 232 billion yen ($1.88 billion) in the past business year because of hefty start-up costs for the console, prompting investors to see the PS3 business as Sony`s biggest risk factor.
Nintendo Co. Ltd.`s (7974.OS) Wii game console has been outselling the PS3 by three to one in Japan and more than two to one in the United States so far this year, according to game magazine publisher Enterbrain and research firm NPD.
A lack of attractive games has been widely cited as a reason for the PS3`s relatively weak performance in addition to the fact that it is far more expensive than the Wii.
More than 200 packaged software titles will likely be released for the PS3 in the year to March 2008, and more than 180 titles are expected to be launched over the Internet, said Stringer, the first non-Japanese to run the Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment conglomerate.
Sony aims to double its PS3 shipments to 11 million units in the current business year and reduce the game unit`s loss to 50 billion yen.
Sony shares were down 1.5 percent at 6,520 yen in afternoon trade, underperforming the Tokyo stock market`s electrical machinery index (.IELEC.T), which gained 0.5 percent.
sections: Hi-Tech |
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