All I Wanted for Xmas Was a PS3!
Supply chain and manufacturing problems at Sony caused a nightmare-before-Christmas PlayStation 3 launch in the U.S. Here's how to avoid Sony's mistakes.
The PS3 delays contributed to an unexpected executive shake-up in Sony's Computer Entertainment division in early December, while the company was still grappling with a recent recall of its notebook PC batteries. Jack Tretton, Sony Computer Entertainment of America's newly installed president, assured gamers that the company is "working around the clock" to satisfy the PS3 demand.
They'd better. According to research from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Western Ontario, supply chain missteps such as product or shipment delays in general can create an immediate 9 percent drop in stock price, and over six months, losses can be as much as 20 percent. And in second-quarter 2006 results, Sony reported an operating loss of $177 million.
