450°

Sony’s Stock Falls to Lowest Level Since 1984

On the eve of Sony’s much-awaited PlayStation-centric press conference at E3 2012 comes some stunning news: Sony’s stock fell below 1,000 Yen (or $12.79) for the first time since 1984 during trading in Japan on Monday.

NovusTerminus4361d ago

Expected, Sony is going through a company wide reconstruction.

NewMonday4361d ago

this is Japan wide , many stocks fell sharply.

decrypt4361d ago (Edited 4361d ago )

They need to look for other opportunities where they can be profitable. Clearly making gaming consoles, Tvs etc isnt doing it for them.

Now people say "Oh Apple was in a bad state 10 years back, look at them now", Yes Apple was near bankrupt, however what happened with Apple was a radical change. What brought Apple out of its problems was Ipods to begin with. Had Apple stuck to its Mac business, nothing would have happened for them.

Same way Sony needs to sideline its current stuff and look for something different. As clearly they cant compete in the current market segment.

Personally in Sonys current situation i would stop buying any Sony products. Since if they go under, there would be no support for their products.

Soldierone4361d ago (Edited 4361d ago )

@decrypt

Apple only really had computers, and jumped into a new market at the right time with great marketing. Sony doesn't only have computers, they are a way bigger company with industry changing standards....

Also you can see Sony trying. They purchased Ericson to improve their phone line, they are changing their TV's, they are networking devices together, they are adding new features to products, and trying to create an entertainment network of gadgets before anyone.

As LordMe stated, its a company wide restructure along with Sony improving and changing so many different areas. Good ole slogan, gotta spend money to make money.

All this "doom and gloom" is just media talk, they jump all over anything and everything. Think about it this way, Sony is so massive that if they were in a dying state they would simply start selling off branches.....instead you see them buying game companies, tech companies, and expanding other areas with new technology. When you see Sony selling off its assets is when you worry.

Also Apple didn't rebuild when the economy totally sucked either. What company isn't "struggling" one way or another?

Edit: lol Disagrees, yet nothing to respond? Why not continue the discussion people?

xursz4361d ago

Consoles aren't doing it for Sony? Since when?

Counting console and handheld, ~150 million users say otherwise.

Megaton4361d ago

Japan needs to stop censoring their porn/hentai. That'll turn their economy around.

buddymagoo4361d ago

Warren Buffet

"Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful."

DiRtY4361d ago

Actually they fell way harder than the Nikkei. So it is both, a Japanese problem and a Sony problem. But a company losing 100 billion USD of its worth in 10 years is pretty bad.

And yes, it is gaming related. Ask Zipper and BigBig.

SilentNegotiator4361d ago (Edited 4361d ago )

"Clearly making gaming consoles....isnt doing it for them"

Nice try, but the playstation division is profitable. Has been back to being so for a while. Troll harder next time.

kneon4361d ago

Most Japanese companies are suffering, many much worse than Sony. The TOPIX is at it lowest level in almost 30 years. The high Yen is certainly not helping any of them.

MaxXAttaxX4360d ago

To be fair, Nintendo's stocks also fell 40% the year they announced the Wii U.

This will pass.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 4360d ago
IHateYouFanboys4361d ago

"Expected, Sony is going through a company wide reconstruction."

Lol no - you've got it the wrong way around. They're going through the restructure BECAUSE OF their plummeting stock prices.

BlmThug4361d ago

You will get phantom disagrees because of the fact that it is true and that its anti-Sony in their eyes even though all you are stating is facts

RedDead4361d ago

Yeah, they took alot of losses this gen. Be it from Tv's, the playstation etc. It's unfortunate than Ps3 didn't work out for so long. Nintendo really got their game on in terms of making money this gen

DebateMaster4360d ago

I think you missed the part where it said this was in Japan. Then again you just came on this article to troll.

t0mmyb0y4361d ago

Sony really needs to work on marketing strategies.

Freshnikes4361d ago (Edited 4361d ago )

They also need to work on customer service it's horrible!! I had to fight with them to get a free game for my vita, wtf I payed $300 for this y'all should be worshiping your customers instead I got treated like shit. Marketing is horrible. to vita commercials that show a guy walking around, lol show the features of this thing up close again and again. I don't even want to get started on tv's this gen, their biggest fail Sony your tv cannot cost more the Samsung, style looking Samsung has u beat customer service Samsung has u beat feature wise both tv's offer the same features but for some reason your tv's cost more and look worse n are thick as hell compared to Samsung . Smfh ... Where is the marketing team at

r1sh124361d ago

@LordMe.
There was always going to be some fallout because of the company restructuring, however the restructuring is only one part of Sonys problems.
Many of their products are just not selling and thats where the entire issue is.
Dont me wrong many large electronics companies like Sony make big mistakes, but Sony has not adapted to the market for years now.
Aside from the PS3 Sony has had issues selling mp3 players, Tv's, Laptops etc..
Ive said it many times before, compare any Sony TV to an equivalent Spec Samsung and the samsung looks better and costs less to purchase.
The reason why @Newmonday this is a japan wide problem is because electronics companies like samsung that are from Korea are making better products.

Someone further down said Samsung was like this 15 years ago, partly because they had yet to venture into many markets, once they moved into TV's etc..
They became better, and they are still innovating.
Sony became a bit lack luster, they had fingers in too many pies and literally lost focus.
Personally I really dont see myself purchasing any Sony product in the near future apart from possibly a PS4.
I do hope Sony get their focus back but currently they are getting clobbered in many areas and the outlook is looking gloomy. They should cut losses in a few areas and go back to the days when they had the ideas to innovate the walkman.
Lets not forget Sony started with MP3 players but because the management of the company was soo set in their ways they decided to push mini disc (great gadget), but that left the market open for the Ipod.

CoolBeansRus4361d ago

It's just hard out there. Sony has a lot more competition everywhere now, MSFT is still king of the software with almost no comp. Don't compare Sony to Apple because apple is also dominating it's field with almost no comp. in the music market.

Can they recover? yea. They should be able to, they just need to cut losses.

What most of fanboys don't know is if Sony goes under there will be less competition in the gaming field, less competition mean dev get paid less for exclusives and less games are made. Everyone losses.

r1sh124361d ago (Edited 4361d ago )

thats how I feel.
Sony need to cut off all the 'bad limbs'
however you can compare apple and Sony.
Apple have no competition in the music market?
Are you nuts, Google play market, and amazon mp3 are just 2.
Dont forget about Sony music unlimited.

Because Sony have made some monumental errors like not endorsing MP3 players and picking Mini disc. Thats what let Apple into the MP3 market with the Ipod!
Sony even admitted it, lets not forget how Sony phones were selling at the time. Sony were doing really well and had great phones, they never took the Ipod seriously which led to the Iphone and once the Iphone hit the shelves Sony have never comeback in the phone market.

Guess what Apple has a TV coming soon and guess which electronics company is going to have the biggest slap mark across its face..Yep its SONY who are losing insane amounts of money in their TV business.

Its not all bad news, because the camera in the Iphone 4s is a SOny build. THey just need to make more great little things like that, which they can sell to competitors.

@soldierone
They dont need to cut corners, they need to innovate faster and find a better ways to make Tv's cheaper, however they just sold the LCD plant along with other joint ventures which means that they will have to pay to use such technologies and costs go up. Its gonna be hard, hopefully they can get through it.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4360d ago
Prcko4361d ago

remove tv's and leave playstation brand
stock will rise 300%

NewMonday4361d ago

they just need to stop selling them for less than cost, they think they can do this by cutting volume and stopping discounts, they also plan to introduce an OLED TV competitor that is cheaper to make.

but the real key is mobile, it is the forefront of consumer technology now. they improved a lot after controlling SE.

another key is to be quick to market, Samsung is the best in this right now.

but all these moves just started it will take years to get back up in the mass mind-share

Soldierone4361d ago

I say cut corners with TV's. It seems no one cares about quality right now, and Sony is all about that. However Samsung has them edged with providing good quality with good prices.

I say cut corners to make a "budget line" of TV's.

As for the PlayStation comment, its just entirely stupid. It's probably their top profiting branch, if not then its in the top 3 with their movie side.

raytraceme4361d ago

Damn sony's market cap is now $12.79 billion :( I really do hope that they can straighten out their act. And bring themselves back to the pre-apple era. Sony, MERGE WITH GOOGLE!!! Long Live Play!!!

NewMonday4361d ago

Samsung were in a similar position about 15 years ago, look at them now.

Sony can do the same, but it will take time

raytraceme4361d ago (Edited 4361d ago )

Oh never knew that. I do hope sony can do the same. I love their products (always of top quality) and really hope they can rebound.

Also ever notice how sony never sues other companies for patent infringement.

They have learned from their geohot mistake and are pretty consumer friendly nowadays in both pricing and service.

Of course I admire the Playstation brand to the fullest and am a Sony fanboy.

I really can't stand to see people move to xbox-apple gaming. Its not that fun anymore like gaming was during the ps1 ps2 era :(

Long Live PLAY!!!

andibandit4361d ago

only 5475 more days to go then

sikbeta4361d ago

How could you think Google would MERGE with Sony!? Google can buy them 20 times if they wanted

LAZL0-Panaflex4361d ago (Edited 4361d ago )

i think they focus on hand helds too much. I think aside from nintedo ds type of stuff for 12 years and under & smartphones, facebook, and online gaming is killing portables for kids over 12.

cod online on a 65" screen is much more fun than playing uncharted on a 5" screen with cramped up controls. It is a top notch device but with the economy crumbling in the us and in europe, plus with the japanese earthquake, tsunami, and nuke plant disaster, i think people are being tighter with their money and just spending $1 on an iphone game or playing on facebook longer.

I don't think anyone with half a brain would play a portable over a console when at home especially when they're about the same price as a console and the portable version of the game is never as good. the new resistance is a good example

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4361d ago
aviator1894361d ago

They don't need to merge with anyone, especially with a company as big as Google.
I have faith that Kaz can take the company to new heights in the coming years without any such mergers.

solidworm4361d ago

and we care because.......................

360GamerFG4361d ago (Edited 4361d ago )

You words say one thing. But your tears..............your tears betray you.
It really is too bad that their rabid fanbase cannot translate into profits, otherwise they'd be swimming in it.

black9114361d ago ShowReplies(2)
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150°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos18d ago (Edited 18d ago )

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers18d ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos17d ago (Edited 17d ago )

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken17d ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g17d ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing17d ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H917d ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola17d ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn66917d ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle17d ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

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130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg18d ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos18d ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion18d ago (Edited 18d ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola18d ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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280°

Sony Taps Bungie's Head of Revenue to Lead Live-Service Games

Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.

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ChasterMies38d ago

Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.

just_looken38d ago

The new temp boss is the sony cfo bean counter so i can see this being a thing get every penny.

Cacabunga38d ago

PlayStation officially losing it.. fans will never support gaas games

just_looken38d ago

@car

The new boss did a interview in japan he wants to tap into the mobile market like nintendio so he give 0 fucks about gamers/fans

https://www.pushsquare.com/...

Redemption-6438d ago

@Cacabunga
You only speak for you and those who think like you, but most fans will support what they want. Playstation and PC fans are literally supporting Helldivers 2 and that is a gaas. Maybe you wouldn't, but many more would if they like it.

Huey_My_D_Long38d ago

@Redemption-64
Look, Im not making any judgement calls about this guy, but I will say that Helldivers 2 GaaS model is unique to Helldivers, and legit the only other game I can think of thats similiar was the Avengers game except HD2 pass is still better.
The fact that you can earn in game currency in a way that doesnt make you feel like you have to grind forever, as well you being able work on that pass that you bought...on your own time without a time limit...that right there is fucking huge to me, and I can't name any game other than avengers that avoided trapping players with FOMO logic...I think GaaS on HD2 shouldn't be compared to the rest of the industry...it should be copied.

Einhander197238d ago

Cacabunga

Helldivers 2...

Redemption-64

In Europe it's a 60 40 split favoring PC.
In the US its a 60 40 split favoring PS5.

So PlayStation owners supported the game just fine, it's not getting carried by PC or anything like that.

FinalFantasyFanatic38d ago

@just_looken,
I'm perfectly fine with the way Nintendo entered the mobile market, I never touched their mobile games, meanwhile, the console/handheld stayed the way it is. As for being a bean counter, he's probably going to reel in these massive budgets that Sony's studios have had lately, I haven't played Spiderman 2, but I cannot see how they almost tripled the budget for that game.

@Redemption-64,
That's an exception to the rule, I'm expecting a lot of these GAAS games from Sony to fail, to be fair, they only need a few to succeed, but I would have preferred that they put more of their resources into other types of games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 38d ago
DivineHand12538d ago

True their monetization is driving players away and at the same time, their decision to chop out content and convoluted systems is keeping new players away from the game.

Joe91338d ago

I don't think that will happen based on how things worked out at Naughty Dog now that we know what we do, seems they had the option to fully commit to live service games or stay making single player experences so they gave up on their live service game. We are not sure how things came about with Bend making a live service game but I hope that was not a forced situation. Sony doesnt seem like they are forcing studios to switch up but we will see, Sony's bread and butter is single player games it is how they dominated the console market.

Obscure_Observer38d ago

Yeah, I though Sony learned something from all their failures in the LS segment under Bungie´s disastrous leadership and supervision which led to games been cancelled, studios closed and all the people laid off.

Looks like Bungie still plays a major role in Sony´s LS initiative and Sony is not backtracking on their GaaS plans.

S2Killinit38d ago (Edited 38d ago )

Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.

Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.

Joe91337d ago

I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.

S2Killinit37d ago

Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 37d ago
Christopher38d ago

I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.

CrimsonWing6937d ago (Edited 37d ago )

Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?

GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.

I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.

S2Killinit37d ago

Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.

Abnor_Mal38d ago (Edited 38d ago )

Ps5 gamers in 2023 seemed to play more live service types of games, so regardless to how people feel about them, numbers don’t lie and Sony is going where the money is. I mean look at the excitement around Helldivers2, people are showing that they want live service games.

Christopher38d ago

They play long-time existing live service games like CoD, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and the like. Mass majority of new live service games are considered failures and aren't moving gamers away from older games.

just_looken38d ago

Yep the huge issue with live service is they need paid players along with a reason to play them.

You forgot mobile market that also taps into that player base as well as the eve online style games there is only a certain amount of krakens/whales blind supporters compared to the amount of live service games we have its not sustainable math wise.

700 restaurants making food for every seat for 1000-3000 eaters just does not work out

Einhander197238d ago (Edited 38d ago )

Christopher

I am not a big live service fan and literally own zero of the games you listed, but that is not true, unless you call games that aren't the top games to be failures.

There are tons of live service games that are profitable.

Games don't have to be the biggest game ever they just need to make more than they cost.

I challenge you to show professionally prepared data that shows that more live service games fail than make enough to keep going.

Because all the data that I have seen shows that live service is less of a gamble than making a big AAA budget game which needs to survive off retail sales.

FinalFantasyFanatic38d ago

I sometimes wonder if we're at saturation point, where it's hard for a new game to join those ranks unless it's particularly exceptional, people only have so much time and money to devote to these types of games.

romulus2338d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218338d ago

Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.

S2Killinit37d ago (Edited 37d ago )

I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder38d ago

How do you kill a franchise that already been killed?
Destiny’s grind, cash-in-on-playbass-cha-Ching, and pop-culture-insertion mainstream-me-too bs totally killed any rep Bungie had. Sony/Bungie, if you are doing this to ward-off players, it’s already working.

crazyCoconuts38d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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