Perhaps each household in Dubai will end up with its own PlayStation 3 console. The country's investment arm, Dubai International Capital, says that is has bought a "substantial" piece of Sony (NYSE: SNE), according to The Wall Street Journal. Cash-rich funds from several Arab countries have started investing in companies in the US and Europe.
The move makes a great deal of sense. Sony trades at about $49, down from a 52-week high of almost $60. Its LCD business did well in the last quarter and should show strong holiday results. The company's studio business has been solid.
That only leaves the Sony's game console business. The old PS2 video game platform still sells well, and there is some early evidence that the newer PS3 is selling better since Sony lowered its price. Nintendo's Wii has been outselling the PS3 in almost every market around the world.
Sony is not likely to be the last investment by Dubai. With the stock markets running down, there are plenty of promising companies with stock available at attractive prices. If someone has a lot of cash.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor of 247wallst.com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-26-2007 @ 12:55PM
Lawman said...
The PS3 was selling well before the price drops. Its actually sold more units in its first year than the Xbox 360 did in its first year. That's a pretty big achievement considering it has a far higher price and all of the huge exclusives due to be released on it this year have been pushed back to 2008.
You should also remember that the 360 was on sale in all 3 regions for all of its debut year while the PS3 was only released in the EU 7 months ago so it has performed far better than the 360. Worldwide both systems have sold an average of 500k units per month since launch but as I said the 360 needed a low price and all of its big titles to do so while the PS3 made do without.