gaming consoles pricing cuts, not possible for 2010

Nowadays, video consoles are no longer intended for youngsters. It is already played by people of all ages. That’s why manufacturers are becoming so successful these days. However, the economic crisis also hits the market of these products.

Big manufacturers such as Sony started to produce products with a reduction in the price tag in 2009. Then, Microsoft follows and Nintendo even experienced a slump in sales by making its console cheaper. This move might not be too positive for their profits, but it will be a bright idea for potential customers. Now, they will have to save lesser amount of money to buy the goods, which makes them happy customers after. But, 2010 isn’t a good year as well.

However, the manufacturers might not give away other pricing cuts for 2010 even if there are lots of potential customers who don’t have extra income needed to buy a wii. They stand to remain in their regular rates because they continue to see demand at very strong levels. From that, it doesn’t suggest the need for any pricing reduction again for this year.

Good thing some retailers are giving away discounts to give customers away to save even in little amounts.

fourth time loss of Sony

According to news earlier, Sony Company has reported a loss for a fourth consecutive quarter, hit by slow mobile handset sales, but has narrowed its full year loss forecast. They suffered an operating loss of 32.6bn yen in the three months to September, from a profit of 11.05bn yen a year earlier. However it has now cut its operating loss forecast to 60bn yen from 110bn yen for the year ending March 2010.

Sony, the world’s second largest LCD TV maker, recently cut the sales price of its PlayStation 3 games console. Kazutaka Oshima, of Ratuken Investment Management in Tokyo said that the outlook looks a bit brighter, but they need to watch whether its semiconductor business will pick up. And, he feels positive about its outlook as Sony managed to narrow down its losses despite the yen’s strength.

Still Sony’s mobile phone joint venture with Sweden’s Ericsson has seen a recent decline in sales, which some analysts put down to its lack of a strong smartphone handset to rival Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s Blackberry.

Big Loss for Dubai’s Biggest Property Firm

According to the news earlier, the Middle East’s biggest property developer – Emaar Properties – has reported a big loss after bets on the US property market went wildly wrong. The firm made a loss of 1.3bn dirhams ($350m; £215m) between April and June after it was forced to write off 1.73bn dirhams from its US homes division. Emaar made a profit of 2.1bn dirhams in the same period last year. Also, its home market of Dubai is also experiencing a slump in development as the global slowdown bites.

The company described the first half of the year as “extremely challenging”. But it was US property interests – Emaar bought John Laing Homes in the US in 2006 – that hit the firm hardest. The company said also that due to the continued slowdown in the US real estate market and chapter 7 [bankruptcy] proceedings relating to John Laing Homes, Emaar decided to write down its complete book value of JL Homes during the second quarter.

Analysts said that the decision to draw a line under its US interests could be beneficial. “I think investors will take the write-down positively as Emaar have decided to wash their hands of JL Homes completely and move on,” said Bobby Sarkar at Al Mal Capital. Emaar is best known as the company developing Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest skyscraper, which is due for completion later this year.

Hope for Economy as pound push higher

According to the news just this morning, the pound has been rising again against the US dollar following better-than-expected economy. The Office for National Statistics said industrial production unexpectedly rose 0.5% in June from May, although it is still down 11.1% from last year.

Also, a survey from the Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) showed the service sector growing at its fastest for 18 months. The pound rose back above $1.70 to its highest level since October 2008, news said. The rise in industrial production was the biggest since October 2007 and was helped by a surge in car production. The CIPS purchasing managers’ survey gave a reading for the services sector of 53.2 for July, up from 51.6 in June.

Any figure above 50 indicates an expansion in the sector. It was the highest reading since February 2008. According also to Mark Miller an economist at HBOS, It is very much consistent with the green shoots recovery story and it continues the theme that the forward-looking business surveys are showing some more encouraging signs.

chages must be made

UN said in the news that the impact of the global crisis on the poorest countries is likely to be so severe that a radical change in policy is needed. The UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) believes new policy approaches are needed to diversify their economies. The 41 poorest countries will be particularly dependent on aid. And it warns that the crisis is hitting the factors that enabled poor countries to grow strongly in 2006 and 2007.

The department said that the magnitude of the crisis offers both the necessity and an opportunity for change. Crisis is the result of weaknesses in the neoliberal model that has been shaping economic policy for the last three decades which have been magnified by policy failures and lax regulation in advanced countries.

They also believes that the free-market neoliberal approach is no longer relevant to developing countries in the midst of a global recession, and instead is promoting public expenditure to stimulate growth, turning established thinking amongst economic policy-makers on its head.