Sega of America Inc expects to sell a million Sega Saturn this year and will build an Internet device to hook the video console up to the World Wide Web. Sega has taken such a pasting from Sony Corp’s PlayStation in the Japanese market that the Saturn’s price has been forced down to the equivalent of $200 from last year’s $350. The machine has the same functions as existing Saturns, but has been re-engineered with hardware design changes to cut the manufacturing cost. Although the new machine will be available in the US at some point, no statement has yet been made as to when it will be available outside Japan. Sega’s executive vice- president Michael Ribero, told investors at the Robertson Stephens & Co conference in San Francisco, California that he expected to more than double 1995’s 400,000 unit sales this year to a million – and with Nintendo Co Ltd’s plans for launch of the much-publicized Ultra 64 still up in the air, anything is possible. He also revealed the company’s plans to follow the on- line trend and deliver an Internet access device for the Saturn, priced between $150 and $200 with modem and browser software. He declined to name the company Sega would choose to supply the browser software, but added that the company has talked with Netscape Communications Corp and one other company. Sony launched the 32-bit Saturn game player last summer as next generation hardware to replace the 16-bit Genesis player, but transition to the new player has been slower than expected. However, the company maintains that the older systems still have a life of two, three even four years in them, he said, adding that the transition has been slow due to price – 32-bit players can range up to $300 more than their 16-bit counterparts and the installed base of 16-bit players is still huge. Sega’s business plan calls for 1.7m Genesis units to be sold in the US in 1996, down from 2m in 1995. The company sold 400,000 32-bit Saturn games players in 1995. For its third game player, called Pico, Sega forecasts this year’s sales of 400,000 units in the US. Lastly, Ribero noted the company’s recent deal to build video game arcades with film studios Dreamworks and Seagram Co Ltd’s should yield five operations by the end of 1996 and 100 by the year 2000.
