Sony Shares Fall on Playstation Concerns

Sony PlayStation 3 video game console is displayed at CEATEC Japan 2006, Asia's largest annual exhibition for information technology and consumer electronics in Makuhari, east of Tokyo, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2006. Fresh concerns about the upcoming release of Sony's much-anticipated PlayStation 3 and reports of erratic performance torpedoed Sony shares Tuesday, driving the stock down nearly 3 percent. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara) (Katsumi Kasahara - AP)

It is also fighting to make a comeback in flat-panel TVs after falling badly behind Samsung Electronics Co. of South Korea and other rivals.

Sony shares have plunged over 20 percent since April, before the company's battery recall woes. At the start of the year, shares were at 4,730 yen.

Sony spokeswoman Nanako Kato said any problems at the Tokyo Game Show, where Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo showed off rival offerings under the same roof, were likely caused by one-of-a-kind temperature irregularities.

About 200 PlayStation 3 units were clustered together in close proximity and housed in kiosks that concentrated the heat generated by their processors and provided poor ventilation, Kato said. Overheating under such circumstances is a common affliction at trade shows, afflicting not just Sony products but those of its competitors, she said.

"It's not a problem with the PlayStation 3 unit itself," Kato said. "For a normal player at home, there shouldn't be any problem."

Sony is sticking to its plans to ship 2 million PlayStation 3 units by year's end and 6 million by March 31, 2007, she said.

U.S.-based Microsoft Corp. rushed its next-generation Xbox 360 to Japanese markets last year to get a head start on its rivals, but it has seen sluggish sales in Japan, which is one of the world's biggest video game markets but one in which players have a deep loyalty to homegrown Sony.

Nintendo Co. meanwhile is planning to launch its new Wii game console in the final quarter of the year and price it below both rivals, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

Sony, based in Tokyo, recorded a 32.3 billion yen ($278 million), profit during the April-June quarter on the back of strong sales of flat-panel TVs and digital cameras. That was a big improvement from the 7.3 billion yen loss posted the same period last year.