Sony Corp is betting on initial Playstation 4 sales to be 40 percent higher than its last home game console which cost more to build and buy, raising the prospect of quicker return to help revive its consumer electronics business.
The console goes on sale at almost the same time as Microsoft Corp's Xbox One, and is the new flagship product for a gaming division that, along with cameras and mobile devices, is at the core of a plan to reinvigorate a business long weighed down by loss-incurring televisions.
Sony is targeting PS4 sales of 5 million machines between its November 15 United States launch and the end of the company's financial year on March 31, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc Andrew House said in a presentation at the Tokyo Game Show on Thursday.
Sony, like Microsoft, has extended its latest console further beyond gaming by making it a living room entertainment hub controlling movies, television and internet content.
House said Sony's game division is working with Sony Pictures to develop content that it could offer the 150 million Playstation network subscribers. Those projects, however, may remain in the pipeline longer than at its U.S. competitor.
Source: Reuters
