Sony Discusses Adding Larger Drive to PS3

According to a recent Reuters report, Sony Corp. said today that it is pondering increasing the hard disk capacity on future models due to the growing demands for disc space the current models seem to be exhibiting among consumers.

The basic flavor of the PS3 comes with a rather limited 20 GB hard drive while the "advanced" model (also known as "the model everyone actually buys") comes with 60 GB of storage. Sony plans to discontinue the lower-capacity PS3 in North America shortly so get 'em while they're hot... or not.

Sony Computer Entertainment spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka is quoted as saying "For users who vigorously store (games and other entertainment content) in the PS3, 20-giga is probably going to be too small, and even 60-giga may not be big enough eventually." The PS3 stores a lot of game material on disc to speed up playback and access speeds, so my guess is gamers will want as many "giga" as they can "getta".

Sony also indicated that additional changes may be on the way, not all of them good. Users may want to gobble up PS3 units now, for fear that Sony actually starts to make some electronics cutbacks to curb their current $1.7 billion (yes, with a 'B') loss currently on the books for PS3. Sony stated that it would not pull back on the Cell processor or BD (Blu-ray Disc) drive or networking ability - but nearly everything else is fair game for either enhancements (plan on premium costs) or removal/downsizing (think memory/cache and possibly secondary chipsets.)

With the current losses Sony is seeing on this unit, it is no wonder they are investigating every possible way to either cut costs or make additional monies on premium options for the console. At some point they should be able to see the horizon (profits or black ink for you business people) but it may be a longer road than even they anticipated. Gaining marketshare is a tricky thing and you really have to be committed to the investment in order for it to succeed in the long run. Let's hope Sony is in it for the long haul.