With the drop of the new model of PS3, lighter, smaller, but with all the features of the big bad model some people are curious as to why there is a new model when it seems that the next console cycle is starting with the drop of the Wii U this year. The answer Sony gave is that the Playstation 3 has a ten year life cycle and to not expect a new console for at least 2-3 years, where does it come from, why the ten year cycle, and what does that mean for the next few years.

The Where and The Why:

Kaz Hirai said in a 2006 interview, a few months before the launch of the PS3 that it had a ten year life cycle:

“The pricing that we announced for the PlayStation 3 is a price that ultimately offers fantastic value to the consumers. I think that we are offering a very good value for the consumers. We look at our products having a 10-year life cycle, which we’ve proven with the PlayStation. Therefore, the PlayStation 3 is going to be a console that’s going to be with you again for 10 years. We’re not going to ask the consumers to suddenly buy another PlayStation console in five years time, and basically have their investment go by the wayside. So for all those reasons, I think at $599 we’re offering a very good value to the consumers.”

What does this mean?

Put simply you can expect that there wont be a new console announcement for at least 2-3 more years and even then you most likely won’t get it till 2015-16. What is Playstation with the larger hard drive and lower price making is to try to make it more accessible to download full games from PSN and trying to move from a disc-based only system even though in an interview at the beginning of the year Hirai said that was never his intention so why the sudden large hard drive? Plenty of people feel that the future is on-demand download games, why should they have to go to the store when they can just do an automatic download at midnight and have it there when they wake up in the morning is this where Sony is planning on going next?

Hirai holds up the previous slim model

It seems like Sony is still pushing the 3D factor and with a new suite of larger than life HD screens with the 3D capability built-in it may just pay off for them as it is seeming to be less like a gimmick and more like something here to stay. What Sony does best is make bets on the long-term, and they have done so again and it seems to be paying off as each quarter the PS3 sales are fairly consistent where other console sales have dropped.

That it this week for Sony Says, check back next Wednesday for another article and news from Sony.