Quote:
Originally Posted by
JayInSF 
This is an incredibly short-sighted (not to mention just plain stupid) position on the part of Sony and Universal. Apple is NOT a rival. They're a MARKET. Their position is analogous to say, Frito-Lay saying they're not going to sell their chips at Safeway because Safeway is a rival. Of course that would be stupid. Safeway is a major market for snack chips and other food, just as the iTunes Store is a major market for music, video and other media.
Competition is a good thing, and I'm glad to see other media markets, such as the TiVo / Amazon Unbox market coming on strong, but the content providers need to embrace the iTunes Store as a market and not get into this ridiculous notion of seeing them as a 'rival'. It's bad for the content providers, and it's bad for us (consumers). It won't have much of an impact on Apple, as their hardware business largely shields them from the ups and downs of the media market business.
Not quite analogous to Frito-Lay and Safeway in a number of ways.
First both Sony and Apple ARE in the music publishing business already, and Apple could decide to get much deeper in. Think of iTunes exclusive releases and the ability of indie bands to go through a "artist/group aggregator" to get their music on iTunes when it may be available nowhere else. Not to mention non-DRM'ed audio and video podcasts of music.
And Apple's CEO happens to have a bit of experience (and a Board of Directors side gig) in the successful movie-making and distribution biz. So he might have a few trenchant thoughts on the future of that as well.
There have been persistent rumors and speculations that Apple may decide to begin eliminating music middlemen, i.e., music labels entirely, and sign artists to release directly to iTMS. And the labels, who add much more overhead and superstructure relating to ancient distribution/promotion channels are certainly vulnerable, and after 2007's physical media sales drop, have reason to be worried about their dinosaur status.
However, since (if) Apple is not currently -- according to them and others -- not really making much of their income from iTMS, and want to strengthen their hardware lineup across the spectrum that's being carved out by synergy between Macs, iPods and other "Apple/i Devices." The goal would be to become your one-stop digital media and communications stop for all the devices you need, so perhaps they're more likely than posters here think to "cannabalize" some iTMS sales to build a "devices customer base" and make a device that indeed integrates new parts of the experiences currently provided by TIVO, X-Box, optical disc playing, etc., where what's coming over the cable or satellite and what's coming through the door (DVD's of all stripes) is integrated seamlessly with what's available on the net, through iTMS, YouTube, etc. and what's stored on your computers and iPods.
The net result, if such a device captured the public's imagination (an Apple, Inc. specialty) could be larger iTMS sales down the road from a larger, more video-oriented customer base than that which propelled the iPod to prominence then dominance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
websnap
The PS3 (a well selling BR player) is selling at 399 here in canada. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple and Sony partnered together to give blu-Ray an iPod-like shot in the arm, especially if it looks favorably to entice Sony movie downloads into the iTS eco-system. If this was the case I can see sony taking a hit on the drive to supply them to Apple. People want to get in on the ground floor of the next iPod-like item, just like AT&T did, with the iPhone. If Intel and apple could put aside differences for common business good, I sure SOny can do the same since they have just as much to gain.
There could be more partnering of various kinds down the road, though I suspect AT&T increasingly looks at Apple much the way a male praying mantis looks at the female it's copulating with: very, very carefully. Again, it's all rumor, but people keep speculating that Apple eventually may not need ONE partner in the phone business -- or even any if they decide to stitch together the combo's of various bandwidths to offer phone service.
Numerous ISV's can testify with great authority about the dual-edged sword nature of adding cool new capabilities to the Mac, only to see them reverse-engineered into the next version of OS X and other Apple software. Including, yes, Microsoft. Redmond doesn't own the only photocopying culture in the digital world.
Still, I've always seen potential synergies (as well as major rivalries) between Sony and Apple, so stranger things could happen. And the Starbucks thing happened (a partnership with a company I've followed avidly from day one with another I wouldn't patronize unless a gun's being held to my head, but more power to Apple for it). So why not other unexpected partnerships.....
