Sony’s games consoles have endured a spectacular fall from grace. In the previous round of the console wars, Sony’s PlayStation2 stormed the market, selling 138m units to date, compared with about 24m Microsoft XBoxes and 22m Nintendo GameCubes.

But the high-spec – and high-price – PS3 has struggled against competitors. It has sold 24m units, compared with about 30m Microsoft Xbox360s and 50m-plus Nintendo Wiis.