Next Generation reports that IDC analyst Billy Pidgeon recently criticized those who attribute Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Ken Kutaragi's retirement from his executive management position to the less-than-stellar launch performance of the company's next gen PS3 videogame console's.

"The popular press scenario [which] casts the PS3 as Sony's folly has journalists suggesting that Kutaragi's retirement is a dressing down for a failed PS3 launch," wrote Pidgeon in a new report. "IDC believes this is a facile, myopic perspective. The negative on the PS3 is that the console is a late bloomer."

In the report, Pidgeon also suggested that unlike the Xbox 360 and Wii which were "designed for immediate market impact", the PS3 will not really come into its own until a "steep uptake" occurs in 2008. Pidgeon pointed towards titles such as Lair and Heavenly Sword as well as the PlayStation Home service as factors that will help push the PS3 to new heights.

Pidgeon also wrote that ODC believes Kutaragi's talents are needed "behind the scenes developing next generation technology" rather than running a business unit. "Kaz Hirai is the best choice for executing the strategy and tactics to turn on PS3's afterburners."