The PS3 Almost Ended PlayStation
“The second year of the original PlayStation was very hard.
I was very concerned,” Yoshida began.
“PS3 was another hard time.
At the time I was part of management, so I could see the financials.
We were losing a billion dollars.
I thought PlayStation was finished.
But luckily, at that time Sony’s flatscreen TVs were hugely popular.
But that was the most difficult time.”
Yoshida describes the situation as a near-fatal catastrophe for PlayStation, which is somewhat surprising.
To date, the PlayStation 5 has sold fewer units than the PlayStation 3, for instance.
Regardless, PlayStation survived the disappointing PS3 era and bounced back with the hugely successful PlayStation 4 in 2013.
