PSX drives strong year-end sales for Sony

The launch of Sony's all-in-one DVD recorder, digital video recorder and games console, the PSX, has boosted the company's sales in the last quarter of 2003, with the system selling 100,000 units in the first week.

According to chief executive Nobuyuki Idei, the year-end period showed "extremely good" sales, thanks to strong consumer spending in the USA as well as good sales for the new PSX and existing products such as the PS2.

"We sold 100,000 PSXs in the first week," according to deputy president Ken Kutaragi, who is also the president of the company's videogame division, SCE. "It sells for almost 100,000 yen (â'¬744) and it still sold out. There are no products out there that can say that."

The success of the device runs contrary to the comments of several market analysts prior to its launch, who opined that Sony's decision to remove certain functionality from the PSX in order to meet its Christmas release date would have a serious negative impact on consumer perception. Much of this functionality is expected to be reinstated in the device through free software updates in the coming months.

PSX boosted Sony to the top of the league tables of DVD/Hard Disk recording systems in December, with some 35 per cent market share - overtaking previous leader Matsushita (the parent company of the Panasonic brand), and building from a previous market share of only one per cent.

It's not yet known what impact the boosted sales, and success of the PSX, will have on the company's quarterly figures, which are expected to be announced at the end of this month. Sony will be hoping for upbeat results, as it struggles to repair damaged investor confidence following the announcement of a $1 billion quarterly loss in April of last year.

Reuters