Howard Stringer jumps for joy thanks to European launch

by Nick Doerr { Apr 17th 2007 at 3:00PM }

Unless Sir Howard Stringer recently woke up from some kind of coma, he should've been out and about proclaiming his hoorays a few weeks ago -- not now. That aside, he sat down to talk about his impressions on the European launch and most of it was glowing praise. Citing around 800,000 units sold in the region, Howard said "I think [in] the first two days in the UK, GBP 100m (USD 199m) revenue changed hands and that's probably the largest consumer electronics sale in history." He thinks. Again, coma.

We're not ragging on the guy, he's nice enough. He felt that Sony lived up to expectations in Europe where they might have fallen short in Japan. As far as competition goes, he also says that the battle isn't over -- the competition are all staring each other in the face, but "we haven't quite shaken hands all the way around." What do you guys think? Was there less hatred over there in Europe upon launch? Were you severely disappointed with what was offered upon launch?

Tags: Howard Stringer, HowardStringer, PlayStation 3, Playstation3, PS3, Sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dolla Dolla @ Apr 17th 2007 3:15PM

Not counting backwards compatibility, Europe's launch lineup was much stronger than either Japan's or NA's, and supplies weren't constrained. And Sony's battle is far from over. Good luck!

Dahk @ Apr 17th 2007 3:20PM

Well no bibi guns were shot at least. and FREE HDTVS AND TAXIS HOME. WHAAAAAAT.

But I'm not sure it was the most pleasant competition wise either =P What with all the xbox boats and microsoft propaganda? lol

Stef Geiger @ Apr 17th 2007 3:23PM

Yeah, I think the stunts Microsoft pulled what with boats crashing launch parties etc were embarrassingly immature and unprofessional.

bootsielon @ Apr 17th 2007 3:23PM

I like it when this guy speaks. He's really smart and he doesn't need to deliver low blows like Bill Gates has done some times. Hell, Bill Gates got really pissed off with Stringer for some issues he disagreed with related with Blu-ray (probably because it doesn't support HDi; poor gates, lol). Anyway, this guy has class, unlike gates. His hair looks funny though.

andres @ Apr 17th 2007 3:48PM

dude The boats and all that were harmless fun. IF Sony did it to the 360 you would be laughing at how awesome it was.

andres @ Apr 17th 2007 3:52PM

also after the lay of of 160 people the head of Sony Italia has stepped down.

IF the launch was such a success why this?

WTangoFoxtrot @ Apr 17th 2007 3:58PM

never seen such a slow and dull console launch in my life. down here in australia it was a lot like europe, no body cared. meaning sydney saw 10 times the crazy crowds/frenzy/adverts on the Halo2 launch ( a freakin game ppl !! a console is supposed to generate more buzz )

Stef Geiger @ Apr 17th 2007 4:23PM

@5: No, I wouldn't be laughing at how funny it was. I'd be embarrassed as a Sony consumer and pissed off that they chose to do something so juvenile and unprofessional. Just because I like Sony doesn't mean I'm a hypocrite and that I'd be cool with them pulling the same stunts.