In typical narcissistic Sony fashion, the firm’s director of hardware marketing has said that Apple’s iPad will be good business – for Sony, that is.
John Koller’s bizarre “me-me-me!” logic comes from his belief that as people get disenchanted with the iPad’s shoddy gaming experience, they will instinctively turn to the PSP for greater gaming gratification. Because subliminal messaging: buy a PSP – you know you want to – really does work.
And people who shelled out over $500 only to be gut-wrenchingly disappointed really want to spend a similar amount on something that does a great job on first person shooters, but can’t tell you what the weather will be like this week. Or what your hipster friends are tweeting and blogging about. Or the funkiest jazz bars in the area.
Talking to theWall Street Journal, whose readers are all very keen to invest in the next big thing, Koller said “Apple’s entrance into the portable gaming space has been a net positive for Sony,” because “when people want a deeper, richer console, they start playing on a PSP.”
Yes, in much the same way that tricycles are great for the sports car industry.
But Koller apparently has some hard facts to back up his theory. According to the number crunchers at Sony central, PSP sales have grown to 42 million units globally since the release of the iPhone in 2007, which tells us almost nothing of any statistical interest except that people buy more consoles than they did three years ago.
Also, if we wanted to be sticklers, which we do, we’d point out that actually, it’s Nintendo reaping the benefits of Apple’s harvest, far outstripping any of Sony’s sales.
Perhaps the Apple isn’t quite ripe for your picking yet, eh, Sony?
