Sibling rivalry exists between any set of brothers and sisters. It apparently even exists amongst videogame consoles, as the PS3 has quite a challenge set by Kaz Hirai.
In speaking with MCV, Mr. Hirai stated that his goal is for the PS3 to overcome the PS2’s 140 million+ sales by the end of its shelf life. He believes that the PS3 has gotten over the hump of a slow launch [Ed: A while ago!] and is now well on its way to becoming the best console Sony has put out to date:
“The high point, looking back at our console business, has been PS2…For PS3, that is one level of success we’d like to emulate and hopefully surpass at the end of the ten-year lifecycle.”
The PS3 has really taken off lately, with sales really being spurred when the PS3 Slim was formally announced at Gamescom 2009. But Kaz believes that in order to improve on this momentum that SCEI will need to focus their efforts in an international sense. He has thus restructured the company into three separate divisions: console, handheld and accessories. These entities of the business are to look at things on a global scale now:
“If it’s right for Japan it’s probably not right for the rest of the world.”
Thinking on a global scale is never an easy task, but if the PlayStation 3’s momentum is any indication then clearly Mr. Hirai is doing something right.
