At the moment, Sony is in last place on the console hardware front, but their cocky attitude towards the competition remains. Speaking in the latest issue of Official PlayStation Magazine, Sony Computer Entertainment head Kaz Hirai plays down the success of Xbox 360, asserting that Microsoft consoles lack longevity and that he expects the PS3's install base to surpass that of 360 down the road.[blockquote2] It's difficult to talk about Nintendo because we don't look at their console as being competitors. They're a different world and we operate in our world — that's kind of the way I look at things...
And with the Xbox — again, I can't come up with one word to fit. You need a word that describes something that lacks longevity... Last time I checked, they've never had a console that's been on the market for more than four or five years and we've committed to a ten year life cycle, so you do the math...
And unless things go really bad, there's no way that at the end of a life cycle our competition is going to have a higher install base.[/blockquote2]I commend Sony for its strong support of the PS2, ten years and it's still a formidable contender. And it's true, the Xbox was killed off prematurely. Things have changed with the 360 though, it's currently outselling the PS3 by a 2:1 margin here in the U.S. based on monthly figures and Microsoft is intent on keeping the platform afloat for years to come.
Either way, I wouldn't be so sure that having a ten year plan automatically equals success. There is no sign that the millions of PS2 owners out there will suddenly start investing in a PS3, making the install base skyrocket past 360. But maybe the current situation will change with a price cut, it's hard to say.
Hirai: Xbox "lacks longevity" [CVG]