Sony is Mum on PS3 Model Newly Registered at FCC
Sony Computer Entertainment registered a new PS3 model at the FCC in early September, a filing at the Commission showed. The filing on model “CECHG01” provides few clues on which features the new PS3 would include or omit. An SCE America spokeswoman wouldn’t comment.
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The little detail in the FCC filing appeared to add further fuel to speculation that Sony plans a new entry-level model in its PS3 line that drops some features. A diagram in the filing suggests the new model includes only two USB ports, compared with four in the current version, and no memory card reader. Bloggers and others also have speculated that any new PS3 would scrap backward compatibility with legacy PlayStation games.
SCE wouldn’t say whether it plans a 40-GB PS3 without USB ports and backward compatibility at about 299 British pounds, about $604, as a new entry-level model in the U.K. (CED Sept 26 p11). The current entry-level unit, a 60-GB console, costs 399.99 ($807.38) in the U.K. and $499 in the U.S., where it’s being phased out. That will leave only the $599 80-GB PS3 on store shelves. A 20-GB model has been dropped in the U.S. and Europe, but not in Japan. “We have a policy of not commenting on speculation and rumor” was all that an SCE Europe spokesman would say about the possibility of a 40-GB PS3.
An FCC filing early this year had suggested Sony planned to introduce an 80-GB PS3 (CED March 30 p5), months before it confirmed its plans to do that (CED July 10 p2). That filing labeled the 80-GB PS3 -- the CECHE01 -- an “addition model,” similar to “original model” CECHA01. The A01 is the model with a 60 GB hard drive and Sony indicated in the FCC filing that the main difference was in the hard drive capacity. Not mentioned in the filing was Sony’s 20-GB PS3, which was soon to be dropped. SCEA offered little insight on its specific plans at the time but vaguely hinted that at the least it was weighing increased PS3 hard disc capacity. The FCC filing was “made with various possibilities in mind -- however, it does not lead to a new product announcement at this time,” the SCEA spokeswoman said then. “We haven’t made any announcements regarding new configurations at this point in time” but, as Sony “mentioned when we made the product announcement for PS3, the system will have different configurations.”
Also Thursday, Eidos parent SCi Games became the latest third-party publisher to call for another PS3 price cut. The company “continues to believe in the long-term commercial success of PlayStation 3 but believes this may take more time than originally forecast by Sony,” SCi Chairman Tim Ryan said. “The key driver to the acceleration of the installed base of PlayStation 3,” he said, “will be a further hardware price cut.” Until Sony makes that move, SCi “believes that it is prudent to increase our provision” to 13.8 million pounds “against the carrying value of certain capitalized development costs” related to PS3 games, he added. Activision and THQ executives told separate investor conferences last week that further PS3 price cuts would increase sales of the console (CED Sept 20 p6).
Revenue fell to 144 million pounds in SCi’s fiscal year ended June 30 from 179.1 million pounds a year ago, according to the company’s preliminary results. Sales dropped “principally due to timing of product launches and weaker retail prices on old generation platforms,” SCi said, adding both factors “reflect the hardware transition in the videogames market.” The company also reported a pretax loss of 30 million pounds, compared with an 8.1 million pound profit a year ago. Eidos makes Lara Croft Tomb Raider games.