Is Sony Still Number One?

Who wouldn’t forget the good old Walkman you used to tote around with when you were younger? Back then, it seemed as if it was THE gadget. Since its release in 1979, Sony has been riding the waves of success.

Now that Sony has turned 60 this year, writer Yuri Kageyama poses this question: Is Sony losing its magic touch? According to Kageyama, Sony seems focused on producing ultra-luxurious products that are conforming less and less to consumers’ wants and needs.

One such example was the Qualia line of luxury products released three years ago, which included a “$3,300 digital camera and a $13,000 audio console that automatically centered a compact disc regardless of how carelessly it was tossed into the player.” Kageyama says that products such as those widen the gap between Sony and consumers. It seems that consumers are more after practicality than luxury, even if the said products were made by an established name in the business.

However, if you go by the numbers, Sony hasn’t entirely lost the plot. In fact, this year, things are looking up for the Japanese company – they earned $276 million for its first fiscal quarter, not a spectacular figure but still a turnaround from their $65.2 million loss last year. Also, Sony President Ryoji Chubachi believes that their TV sets and portable music players are still number one. To ensure this, revamps were made, such as bringing Apple’s Tim Schaff to develop its software, and cooperating with Samsung Electronics to work on light crystal displays for TV sets.

Moreover, Sony is now lending an ear to its consumers (which resulted to pulling out the Qualia line) and maintains a “full scope of its business.”  With its motto, “Sony United,” the company strives for more inter-connectivity with its other departments, a lesson learned after a mishap with the production of its digital music player (which initially supported ATRAC3 files instead of the MP3 format, which doesn’t have protection against illicit copying) which could have been prevented if the software designers maintained strong communication lines with the product designers.

So is Sony still the king in the biz? We really can’t tell just yet. How about you, what do you think?

Who wouldn’t forget the good old Walkman you used to tote around with when you were younger? Back then, it seemed as if it was THE gadget. Since its release in 1979, Sony has been riding the waves of success.

Now that Sony has turned 60 this year, writer Yuri Kageyama poses this question: Is Sony losing its magic touch? According to Kageyama, Sony seems focused on producing ultra-luxurious products that are conforming less and less to consumers’ wants and needs.

One such example was the Qualia line of luxury products released three years ago, which included a “$3,300 digital camera and a $13,000 audio console that automatically centered a compact disc regardless of how carelessly it was tossed into the player.” Kageyama says that products such as those widen the gap between Sony and consumers. It seems that consumers are more after practicality than luxury, even if the said products were made by an established name in the business.

However, if you go by the numbers, Sony hasn’t entirely lost the plot. In fact, this year, things are looking up for the Japanese company – they earned $276 million for its first fiscal quarter, not a spectacular figure but still a turnaround from their $65.2 million loss last year. Also, Sony President Ryoji Chubachi believes that their TV sets and portable music players are still number one. To ensure this, revamps were made, such as bringing Apple’s Tim Schaff to develop its software, and cooperating with Samsung Electronics to work on light crystal displays for TV sets.

Moreover, Sony is now lending an ear to its consumers (which resulted to pulling out the Qualia line) and maintains a “full scope of its business.”  With its motto, “Sony United,” the company strives for more inter-connectivity with its other departments, a lesson learned after a mishap with the production of its digital music player (which initially supported ATRAC3 files instead of the MP3 format, which doesn’t have protection against illicit copying) which could have been prevented if the software designers maintained strong communication lines with the product designers.

So is Sony still the king in the biz? We really can’t tell just yet. How about you, what do you think?