The Wii "isn't hurting us", says Sony boss

Sony CEO Howard Stringer has said PS3 sales aren't suffering as a result of the Wii's popularity - even though Nintendo may have adopted "a superior business model".

"The Wii is a well-made device that has found a new target group. For a while, we held the same target group with the SingStar karaoke game. But perhaps we neglected to pursue that avenue," Stringer told Die Welt.

"PlayStation games are rather designed for those who play a lot. Although it's a different strategy, it pays off. We currently have a production bottleneck with the PlayStation 3."

In other words, people are snapping up PS3 consoles faster than Sony can make them, according to Stringer. "You also know, however, that our business model is not perfect, and that we make a loss on every console we sell," he conceded.

"Nintendo makes money with the hardware alone, which may be a superior business model. But the Wii is not succeeding at our expense - it is not hurting us."

And besides, Stringer went on, "We are already making more money with the games than we are losing with the hardware."

But Sony spent USD 3 billion on bringing PS3 to market, let's not forget. Will it ever get that money back?

"Not for as long as I live," said Springer, laughing the laugh of a man who wouldn't get out of a next-gen DVD format war for less than USD 3 billion.

"It will certainly take some time... We are currently at the stage in which we need to get a grip on the production costs. That takes time."