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October 13, 2005
Apple got it right
While Sony is still clueless, this is a rant about Sony mainly. Apple just struck a deal that allow iPod Video owners to download $2 TV shows. Although downloading TV shows is pretty much what a lot of people have been doing in the past few years after the coming of BitTorrent - albeit illegally - this new direction by Apple is showing that this is the future.
I suspect the download will be pretty low quality suitable only for iPod minuscule screen size, and only available in US but this is a good direction regardless.
This is yet another setback to Sony, which with their superior PSP screen quality (wide-screen & bigger) still clueless how to capitalise their advantage. They should have moved quicker to secure the deal, but their paranoia with DRM (remember ATTRAC3 and the MP3 players that don't play err MP3 :) is really holding them back.
Sony now has been beaten in almost every single new product segments. Flat screen TV? Totally toasted by Sharp, Samsung, LG and Fujitsu. Mobile music player? iPod rules and the market is already crowded with the like of Creative, BenQ and the horde of Chinese made MP3 players. Music download? Yep they owned one of the big four recording companies, should have seen it coming and beaten by iTunes. Movie/TV download? Beaten by Apple, yet again. Laptop? Man they should really consider quitting the market, who in their right mind would buy VAIO? Unless you're loaded you really don't need to pay the "Sony" premium. Digital camera? They are still making some money from this one, but I only have 1 friend with Sony camera now. 90% of my friends and family own a Canon (or two) and the rest are an assortment of Kodak, Konica - Minolta, Fuji and even Casio. Their insistence of using the ultra expensive Memory Stick is really hurting them.
Console gaming? Microsoft XBOX 360 is looming. Although the advanced preview didn't impress a lot of journalists, I have no doubt that Microsoft will do a much better job in XBOX Live component than Sony rather sad attempt in online gaming. And online gaming is becoming a much important component in the gaming world. It's a pity I know, I'm a long time fans of PlayStation and will still buy PS3 (and Revolution) instead of Microsoft's XBOX but I can see Sony's demise will be much sooner than expected.
Sony is toast. PS3, the crown jewel of Sony Corporation, is under heavy attack by Microsoft. This is their Game division which account 51% of their profit in 2004. Sony is actually expecting an operating lost this year, the first in a decade. They've just appointed Howard Stringer as the first non-Japanese CEO, but I reckon the need someone like Carlos Ghosn, no less.
Posted by vhadiant at October 13, 2005 11:39 PM
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