Sony Still Hyping (And Suing) On The Way To Delayed, Old-News PSP

from the messy-marketing dept

Earlier this month, we learned of Sony's plan to stop gray market retailers from selling the PSP before its September launch in the UK. That plan involved suing people who imported and sold the machines there, despite the obvious futility of this policy in the age of the internet. Now they've won an injunction against a one-man shop trying to make a go of imports. While still officially fighting the case on the grounds of trademark infringement (even though another company in the UK already owns the name "PSP"), Sony argued in court that the unauthorized imports disrupt the hype and demand they're building for the launch. That might make sense, if people in the UK had little connection to the world beyond their borders and were just getting wind of the PSP. Rather, it was probably highly anticipated by gamers there (along with those in other countries) when it was originally supposed to launch in March, then delayed in the UK to September. A thriving gray (and possibly black) market suggest there's ample demand already. Now, Sony is trying to stuff the genie back in the bottle, which is just as likely to annoy customers as make them eager to buy it. You'd think the marketing hands responsible for the PSP would be wiser to these issues, but considering their track record, maybe we shouldn't be all that surprised.