Launching PSX, Sony Pins Hopes On Hybrid Line
Sony Corp. on Saturday launched in Japan the PSX, a cross between a digital-videodisc recorder and game machine that is one of the company's most strategically important products.
Priced at around two-thirds of what rivals such as Pioneer Corp. or Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. are charging for similar machines, the PSX could help Sony boost sales in the hot DVD recorder market, which Sony had been slow to enter. The machine's retail price is about ￥99,800 ($926) for a model with a 250-gigabyte drive that can store 100 hours of video.
More importantly, the PSX is Sony's first experiment in melding the company's PlayStation videogame technology -- and the microchips that power it -- with a core consumer-electronics product. Sony is counting on that game-electronics combination to breathe new life into its sluggish electronics business and to answer criticism that the company that designed the Walkman is losing its ability to create cool, innovative gadgets.
Sales of the PSX in the U.S. and Europe are scheduled to start some time during 2004.
The machine will be a crucial test for Ken Kutaragi, the PlayStation creator who this year was put in charge of next-generation gadgets, and who is directing the development of a new super-fast microchip to power them.
With the PSX, Sony is making a number of strategic bets. One bet is that consumers will want the same speed and style from their future video decks that gamers want from their PlayStations. Like rival machines, the PSX records movies and TV programs, storing them on its hard drive or burning them on DVDs. But the PSX, which runs on the microchip that powers the PlayStation 2, also plays PlayStation games. And it tries to duplicate some of the game experience, using icons in a crossbar rather than menu items in a list, and sticking a tiny joystick in its remote controller that lets users scroll through thumbnails of stored movies so fast the images blur.
Indeed, the buzz around PSX -- with some stores selling out their stock on the first day and others opening early in anticipation of lines -- was more like that surrounding the launch of a game console than a video-recording device.
"We're trying to redefine the video deck," said Akira Shimazu, one of the developers of the PSX.
The strong sales came despite delays in fine-tuning that caused Sony to pull some of the features it had advertised -- such as the ability to burn a certain type of DVD format -- because they wouldn't be ready by the product-launch date. Sony said it would make the features available later in a software update.
Sony is also betting that the PSX, which can store photos and copy CD music files to its hard disk, will be able to challenge personal computers, which are increasingly being used to play digital music and videos. And because the PSX comes with a high-speed Internet connection, the machine's creators are also hoping that eventually -- perhaps some time next year -- they will be able to start rolling out services that take users online. One such service already available lets PlayStation 2 gamers play online. Another might be an online-music store, which Sony has said it hopes to start up next year.
A Sony spokesman said the company hopes to sell at least one million PSX machines within the next year. He declined to say whether that target included sales in the U.S. and Europe.
索尼推出能玩游戏的刻录机PSX
索尼公司(Sony Corp., SNE, 又名:新力公司)周六在日本推出将数字刻录机和游戏机合二为一的产品PSX，这是该公司最具战略意义的重要产品之一。
相对于竞争对手先锋公司(Pioneer Corp.)和松下电器产业公司(Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.)的同类产品，PSX的定价只相当于它们的三分之二，但PSX可能有助于提振索尼在进入时间不长的DVD刻录机市场的销售状况。一台PSX的零售价约为99,800日圆（合926美元），它有一个250G的驱动器，可存储长达100个小时的视频文件。
更重要的是，PSX是索尼公司将其PlayStation游戏机技术融合于一款核心消费电子产品的首次尝试。公司希望通过将游戏机与消费电子产品相结合，为其疲软的电子产品业务注入新的活力，同时化解外界对索尼的不满。人们指责曾经成功设计出"随身听"(Walkman)的索尼正逐渐失去开发出更酷和更有创意产品的能力。
PSX将于明年适当时候开始在美国和欧洲销售。PSX是对PlayStation的开发者久多良木健(Ken Kutaragi)的一次重大考验。索尼今年任命他负责新一代产品的开发，以及研制超级快速的新型晶片。
索尼在PSX中下了很多战略性的赌注。其中之一就是，索尼相信消费者未来对刻录机工作速度和方式的要求会像对PlayStation的要求一样高。与其他竞争产品一样，PSX能够录制电影和电视节目，并将其储存到硬盘上，然后将它们烧制成DVD。但由于PSX采用了与PlayStation 2一样的晶片，所以消费者还可以用它来玩游戏。
PSX大受消费者的欢迎，很多商店第一天就售光了所有该产品的存货；很多人为了购买PSX清早排起长队，有些商店只好提前开张。这彷佛更像是公司推出了一款游戏机，而不是一款刻录机。PSX的一位开发人员Akira Shimazu说，"我们希望重新定义刻录机。"
索尼的一位发言人说，公司希望PSX明年的销量至少达到100万台。他拒绝透露这个销售目标是否包括了在美国和欧洲市场的销售。
