Sony: We are not “out of ideas” and we do have “hit products”
- 14 May, 2012 13:38
- Comments 4
The last few years have not been kind to Japanese electronics vendors such as Sony, which has seen its grip on the market slip to competitors.
This came to a head recently when Sony announced it will lose US$6.4 billion this year and the company’s shares hit a 31-year low in Tokyo trading.
But what is the cause of Sony’s woes?
According to a recent article by the New York Times, titled How the Tech Parade Passed Sony By, it is due to the company having an “astonishing lack of ideas” and not making “any money” in years due to its complete lack of a “hit product.”
However, ask Sony and it will strongly disagree with the sentiment.
“We are not out of ideas and probably the opposite is true, where we’ve been accused of having too many ideas,” Sony A/NZ managing director, Carl Rose, said in an exclusive interview with ARN.
To back up his claim, Rose points to how Sony has been innovating with products such as the Personal 3D Viewer, where the user can immerse themselves in a 3D experience, as well as Digital Recording Binoculars that bring 3D video recording to the long distance viewing device.
“We’re returning focus to our business and the products we offer, while continuing to revolutionise the electronics industry,” he said.
Gartner electronics analyst, Paul O’Donovan, views the assumption that Sony has been struggling in recent years due to lack of ideas as “complete boulderdash” and “rubbish”.
“Sony has certainly had some ideas and they have continued to be innovative,” he said.
O’Donovan instead blamed Sony’s problems on “not innovating in the right area” or beingunable to put in enough money into R&D to push these new technologies forward.
“For example, they brought out OLED TVs a few years ago, but the yields weren’t very good and they didn’t persist with the technology to bring and push it to the market,” he said.
As for the accusation that Sony is not making money due the lack of a “hit product”, Rose doesn’t think this ws the case.
“We’ve actually had numerous hit products including our NEX range of E-mount cameras, which Time Magazine even declared its ‘product of the year,’” he said.
The success of the PlayStation hardware and software was also highlighted by both Rose and O’Donovan as an example of a hit product by Sony that has brought money into company.
However, Rose does concede that Sony has faced incredible adversity in recent years, including the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the floods in Thailand last year, which all affected its bottom line.
O’Donovan also said the current PlayStation 3 console has “not been quite as successful” as Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which has not helped Sony’s current predicament.
The question remains though: If the root cause of the losses at Sony isn't a lack of ideas then what is?
Ostensibly, the answer probably lies in Sony's underperforming TV division that had had its sales eroded by cheaper offerings from Korean competitors and a sluggish TV market in general.
Despite Sony’s loses encompassing its global operation, the silver lining is that Sony in Australia is performing quite well compared to other markets, with Rose confirming to ARN that Sony A/NZ is “a profitable organisation”.
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Comments
Jay
1
Of course the Sony Kill Chip and their lousy support if you are not American also have a huge hit. Sometimes it's as if this company forgets that there is a world outside the USA borders.
Case in point is their Android table offering the Tablet S, which they promised - in writing - would have the latest version on Android before the end of April.
True if you were American, for the rest of the world a lie.
Sony is dead, their inability to deal with the world and products that die after 366 days the proof.
Matthew K
2
Sony just never learns. No one wants Sony anymore because Sony products are always a closed platform that does not interact with other devices from other brands. Nothing works properly. People just want devices that allow them to do what they want. No one has time trying to make Sony products functional in their environment.
Sony continually release stupid dead end proprietary formats like AAATRAC or memorystick, which never compete on capacity, performance or price so users get stuck with a device with no options. If they hack it to make it work Sony loves to sue teenagers. Eventually Sony totally abandons the format and their customers at the same time.
Look at PSP users who had to throw their PSP Discs away for PSP-Go and now with that Vita thing…
It’s the same story for PlayStation 2 customers – totally dropped in PlayStation 3 with no compatibility – so why call it PlayStation if it isn’t compatible? Right now the rumours say the next Playstation 4 will again abandon PS3 users and although it’s not confirmed - everyone just takes it for granted that it will happen. Sony has a bad rep that they are stuck with.
Customers can’t be bothered arguing anymore as Sony always takes an arrogant stance in the face of negative consumer feedback… “Our products are fantastic, it’s the consumers that are inferior”… Yeah., whatever.
P.Sarkis
3
None of my customers are asking for Sony these days. I can't sell their cameras even if its comparably cheaper because the addon accessories are too few and far too expensive. The laptops dont move either. I think a lot of people cringe at how inflexible Sony is to the innovations of third party suppliers because they are too controlling. Nothing works properly. They also price gouge Australians.
Topher
4
O’Donovan also said the current PlayStation 3 console has “not been quite as successful” as Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which has not helped Sony’s current predicament.
~Of course the PS 3 isn't as successful.... Microsoft has not only the Kinect, which creates an entirely new perspective of Video Gaming, HOWEVER, they also don't have a 600 dollar unit. Pay 300 for a unit that can do the same thing, or pay 600 bucks?? Hum.... I'll go with the one that costs less. Granted Sony's PS3 is unique in some areas, I'd still rather pay for a 360, than forking out 600 bucks for a unit that simply plays games, and Blu-Ray disks... When the PS3 can start typing up my college papers for me, then we MIGHT talk...