Electronic Arts bigwigs have spoken out: and the future isn't quite as rosy as they thought it would be. The publishing giant has downgraded its projected net revenue and earnings per share figures for the third and fourth quarters of this financial year. And it's all the fault of the next-gen consoles, apparently.
In a conference call addressing the issue of lower-than-anticipated sales, as reported by Next Generation, Jenson said (in a classic example of CFO-speak): "I would say that we're still very bullish about the upside potential on the next-generation platforms and future growth opportunities for the company." But he then admitted that: "A combination of things have occurred this quarter that have caused the results to be below expectations... The Xbox 360 launch, although it's gone extremely well in North America and Europe, we don't see them getting to the installed base numbers that we have anticipated when we provided guidance previously." Roughly translated, he doesn't think that Microsoft will sell as many Xbox 360s as he and EA thought they would. Which is a tad odd, since Microsoft seems capable of selling as many Xbox 360s as it can build - outside of Japan.
Jenson admits: "The introduction of [Xbox 360] has caused the Xbox 1 business to slow down dramatically." You'd never see that one coming, eh? At least it's not all Microsoft's fault: the looming spectre of the PlayStation 3 and continuing PSP shortages aren't helping matters, either: "There's a rumour out there that the PlayStation 3 may be launching in the springtime of next year, and I think that's causing some people to stay on the sideline, and perhaps postpone purchases. In retrospect, we're probably not going to get to the level of new hardware sales on PlayStation 2 this year, and in retrospect, a price adjustment on that would've had a positive impact on the market this year, and that didn't happen. We don't see the PSP getting to the installed base levels in North America or Europe as had been previously anticipated."
Somewhat damningly (even though his company's Need For Speed: Most Wanted topped this year's Christmas all-formats chart), Jenson conceded that this year's holiday releases are: "Probably not as compelling a portfolio of products as we saw last year." But apparently, it isn't all doom and gloom: "It's a combination of factors, and we don't think those have anything to do with long term trends."
So, if only the bean-counters at EA had remembered to write off to Santa asking for price-cuts to the Xbox and PlayStation 2, plus massive shipments of Xbox 360s and PSPs, they wouldn't be running around saying "Bah, humbug". Spare a thought for some depressed multi-millionaires this Christmas...
In a conference call addressing the issue of lower-than-anticipated sales, as reported by Next Generation, Jenson said (in a classic example of CFO-speak): "I would say that we're still very bullish about the upside potential on the next-generation platforms and future growth opportunities for the company." But he then admitted that: "A combination of things have occurred this quarter that have caused the results to be below expectations... The Xbox 360 launch, although it's gone extremely well in North America and Europe, we don't see them getting to the installed base numbers that we have anticipated when we provided guidance previously." Roughly translated, he doesn't think that Microsoft will sell as many Xbox 360s as he and EA thought they would. Which is a tad odd, since Microsoft seems capable of selling as many Xbox 360s as it can build - outside of Japan.
Jenson admits: "The introduction of [Xbox 360] has caused the Xbox 1 business to slow down dramatically." You'd never see that one coming, eh? At least it's not all Microsoft's fault: the looming spectre of the PlayStation 3 and continuing PSP shortages aren't helping matters, either: "There's a rumour out there that the PlayStation 3 may be launching in the springtime of next year, and I think that's causing some people to stay on the sideline, and perhaps postpone purchases. In retrospect, we're probably not going to get to the level of new hardware sales on PlayStation 2 this year, and in retrospect, a price adjustment on that would've had a positive impact on the market this year, and that didn't happen. We don't see the PSP getting to the installed base levels in North America or Europe as had been previously anticipated."
Somewhat damningly (even though his company's Need For Speed: Most Wanted topped this year's Christmas all-formats chart), Jenson conceded that this year's holiday releases are: "Probably not as compelling a portfolio of products as we saw last year." But apparently, it isn't all doom and gloom: "It's a combination of factors, and we don't think those have anything to do with long term trends."
So, if only the bean-counters at EA had remembered to write off to Santa asking for price-cuts to the Xbox and PlayStation 2, plus massive shipments of Xbox 360s and PSPs, they wouldn't be running around saying "Bah, humbug". Spare a thought for some depressed multi-millionaires this Christmas...
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