Comment by mjfern | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mjfern | Hacker News Reader

Sony has trailed in digital music, online video, and casual/social gaming. I'm glad that Sony is trying something different to get ahead of the curve as portable gaming converges with smartphones. There are several reasons, however, why I think this device may struggle in the market.

For instance, who is the target market? Kids and teen gamers who buy a PSP or DS (I assume parents often pay) or young adults that currently buy an Android phone or an iPhone?

If the target market is kids or teen gamers, will they be able to afford the price of the device plus the monthly voice/data plan? For instance, while 33% of teens aspire to own an iPhone, only 14% of teens actually own the device, down 1% from the prior year (Fortune, 2010); perhaps this decline was due to the recession or the emergence of Android phones.

For teens and young adults, will this device appeal to them as a replacement for an iPhone or for a different Android phone? The iPhone and select Android smart phones (e.g., Motorola Droid) have functional value, but also serve as a fashion statement. For many, the phone you choose is an extension of your identity (e.g., like your choice of car). How many teens and young adults will identify with a Sony PS phone with built in PS controls?

Perhaps Sony can overcome the cost of ownership issue by partnering with a discount cellular carrier, such as Virgin Mobile or Metro PCS. The second issue about the appeal of iPhones and select Android phones is more of a challenge. The device as pictured in the Engadget article looks interesting. But how many teens and young adults will shy away from the built in PS controls (and the bulk that this adds to the device)?

What are thoughts on how this device will perform in the smartphone market?

"If the target market is kids or teen gamers, will they be able to afford the price of the device plus the monthly voice/data plan?"

I know plenty of parents who give their kid a PSP+DSi, and/or an iPod Touch, and a "family phone" that may be one of those cheesy sidekick sliders for texting all day.

If parents can ditch all those and give the kid one thing (presumably this PSP phone), it would almost be like making money on the deal.

Do remember that the average age of a gamer is now well into the 30-40 bracket. PSP has sold well to teens, but there's no cut and dried reason why a PSP phone wouldn't sell well to an older demographic.

Targeting someone like Virgin Mobile out the gate would certainly shake things up.

I also can't help but feel that the PSPGo might have been a trial platform for this... if this phone has the guts of a PSPGo and can download PSP games to it, I think it will sell brilliantly. If it has to have new games written for it, it's going to get lost in the 3DS/PSP2 shuffle and just end up with another version of Angry Birds and a couple of iPhone games.

market for this phone will be too small. Idea is not bad, but i'd better think to create additive controller to existing phones, instead of creating whole 2in1 thing.

Perhaps there will be a WiFi-only version for the kids. Although I'm seeing younger and younger children get not just mobile phones but data plans as well.

I think the phone's success depends greatly on how well Sony can leverage its game catalog. Unfortunately Sony has proven fairly incapable of exploiting it on the PS3.

Nintendo is really missing the boat by not making a Nintendo DS Phone. A DS with even the most basic "feature phone" capabilities would be incredibly attractive to the 5 to 35 age group. You know, a dialer, a contact book, basic SMS chat, calculator, calendar, and that Opera browser they already include in the newer models. Throw in a few downloadable DSi apps and it would handily beat the webOS and Windows Phone 7 devices overnight.

WiFi only version already exists - it's called a PSP.

I doubt Nintendo would do that due to their business model - which is to make profit on every hardware unit sold. If they added all those features and had to do deals with carriers etc, I doubt they could make a profit on their hardware.

You make it sound like it would be prohibitively expensive to add a cellular antenna to something. A DSi today costs $150 on which they presumably make a profit.

Cell phones typically cost $200 and come with hundreds in carrier subsidies. If you bought one straight up it would cost $400 to $600. Considering Nintendo makes money on $150, they could increase the cost to $250 to add "all those features" and the DS phone would still be free up front after carrier subsidies.

I'm not sure what business you think cell phones makers are in. They only make money by selling hardware so of course each unit needs to be profitable.

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