Playstation 3 "gets too hot"
Sony shares plummet
By Nick Farrell: Wednesday 04 October 2006, 07:22
SHARES IN SONY fell after an analyst claimed its long awaited Playstation 3 console gets a bit too hot.
Sony had a few technical hitches at the Tokyo Game Show, according to the Washington Post. Macquarie Equities analyst David Gibson wrote that PS3 units on display at the show operated erratically and had to be repeatedly reset.
He was not sure why the PS3 would do this, but suspected it was due to over heating. Gibson was concerned that such a problem had occurred so close to full production and this was "clearly negative news for the company".
But Sony denied that there was any technical problem with the PS3. It claimed that the problem was caused by the fact that more than 200 PS3s were clustered together in kiosks that concentrated the heat generated by their processors and provided poor ventilation.
Overheating is normal at trade shows, afflicting not just Sony products but those of its competitors. But the markets took Gibson's word and have downgraded Sony from a 'buy' to 'hold' rating so share prices fell. µ
L'INQ
