Sony Corp. on Thurs. said that Ken Kutaragi, chief executive of the company's game division, will retire on June 19.Kutaragi is the inventor of the Sony's best-selling Playstation consoles, including the latest, Playstation 3.
The executive is stepping down amid slower-than-expected sales for the latest Playstation console, which held lower sales than offerings from Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. in recent months.
Kaz Hirai, current president and chief operating officer at the game division, will takeover responsibilities for Kutaragi.
Kutaragi helped build the Playstation business to a market-leading positition from 1995 to 2005. The PSone and PS2 have sold a combined 200 million units in worldwide markets.
The PS3, however, suffered during production due to ballooning costs and has received tepid demand at retail. To date, Sony has sold 1.2 million PS3 units in the U.S. compared to Microsoft's Xbox 360 at 5.3 million and Nintendo's Wii at 2.1 million sold.
Sony this month discontinued the 20GB PS3 hardware SKU citing overwhelming demand for the high-end 60GB version. The 60GB hardware retails for $599.
This month, Microsoft will release the Xbox 360 Elite, a new hardware SKU that will help it compete against Sony's latest. It includes HDMI and a 120GB hard drive for $479.
Source:
Punch Jump :// NEWS - Kutaragi steps down amid slow PS3 sales - PS3
01-May-2007, 10:03 PM
Kutaragi steps down amid slow PS3 sales
Linear Mode
