You're CEO of Sony: What Do You Do?
It's 2008.
The iPod has utterly kicked your Walkman in the nuts, and the current model Walkmans are ugly and the syncing software is garbage (also, you're tied to Microsoft's DRM). The PS3 is second in Japan, perhaps Europe, and third in North America. The PSP is doing very well, but moves little software and is poorly designed (optical drive). Your content business is doing ok (yet Spiderman 4 looks like a no-go so?) but it has systematically sabotaged the consumer electronics business.
You have a couple upsides. The newish XMB interface works well for the PSP/PS3 and you're expanding it to the TV business which is also going well. Blu-ray won, and that will help down the road. The Sony Vaio line-up is doing ok, but you're stuck with Windows.
Your market cap is a third what it was in 2003. Your margins are below 1%, compared to nearly 3% in 2003 and against 18% against Apple Inc.
What do you do?
The iPod has utterly kicked your Walkman in the nuts, and the current model Walkmans are ugly and the syncing software is garbage (also, you're tied to Microsoft's DRM). The PS3 is second in Japan, perhaps Europe, and third in North America. The PSP is doing very well, but moves little software and is poorly designed (optical drive). Your content business is doing ok (yet Spiderman 4 looks like a no-go so?) but it has systematically sabotaged the consumer electronics business.
You have a couple upsides. The newish XMB interface works well for the PSP/PS3 and you're expanding it to the TV business which is also going well. Blu-ray won, and that will help down the road. The Sony Vaio line-up is doing ok, but you're stuck with Windows.
Your market cap is a third what it was in 2003. Your margins are below 1%, compared to nearly 3% in 2003 and against 18% against Apple Inc.
What do you do?
Comments
So:
The core of this OS would become the software foundation of all products. Just as OS X is the foundation of Macs, the iPhone, iPod touch and AppleTV, Sony OS would be the foundation of the "digital home products", VAIOs, mobile phones and portable media players.
Another open question is their quality control; for a while, at least, they seemed to be incapable of making anything that didn't break in 6 months, and their customer service for repairs seemed to be deliberately, insanely, perversely designed to make absolutely sure that you never, ever, considered buying another Sony product ever, ever, ever. I don't know if this has improved, because I decided to never buy another Sony product ever, ever, ever.
I can't be alone in this-- once you get a rep for shoddy goods (and they definitely had that, at one point) it's really hard to shake. I haven't seen anything from Sony acknowledging they had a problem, so I can't trust that they've ever addressed it. I'm willing to bet Sony's profits are at least somewhat damaged, even now, even if they are executing production flawlessly, by all the people they've pissed off over the years.
Also, stop letting the engineers decide the feature set. To be fair, this is a problem endemic to the industry (it's what distinguishes Apple from the pack, after all), but Sony has a culture that venerates engineering-- which can lead to some totally cool stuff, but more often than not makes their gear feel a little like it has been designed for the military, bristling with "functionality" and no- nonsense, butch design that comes off as aggressively user unfriendly.
And when they do decide to get friendly, they just come off as weird-- ala the "bean" MP3 player.
It's a shame, because, at its best, Sony has combined great engineering with smart industrial design-- they just don't seem to know when to stop adding models and features.
Much of this will echo what has already been said but...
- They need to make their products look nicer. The PS3 isn't exactly pretty is it??
- They need to simplify their product lines - how many millions different phone models do they have.
- They should ditch widows (tho this will be difficult to do!)
- more integration between products
A know a few of us would like to see every unintuitive interface/product get the apple makeover but when you start catering for too many niche markets you end up neglecting your focus.
It's always very tricky to maintain that balance
This discussion is actually like looking in the mirror in some respects
A know a few of us would like to see every unintuitive interface/product get the apple makeover but when you start catering for too many niche markets you end up neglecting your focus.
It's always very tricky to maintain that balance
I think Apple could stand to expand its product lines a little in many cases.
They would still be many miles away from having a product line as messed-up, overlapping and confusing as Sony, or the pièce de résistance, Acer (seriously, how the hell do you choose which laptop of theirs to buy - check out their website, I dare you!).
I think Apple could stand to expand its product lines a little in many cases.
They would still be many miles away from having a product line as messed-up, overlapping and confusing as Sony, or the pièce de résistance, Acer (seriously, how the hell do you choose which laptop of theirs to buy - check out their website, I dare you!).
I'd rather not live through Acer style torture!!
I agree that Apple have a little room for expansion but it makes you wonder. It's like swimming in the sea, you don't realize how quick your drifting until it's too bloody late!
It's 2008.
The iPod has utterly kicked your Walkman in the nuts, and the current model Walkmans are ugly and the syncing software is garbage (also, you're tied to Microsoft's DRM). The PS3 is second in Japan, perhaps Europe, and third in North America. The PSP is doing very well, but moves little software and is poorly designed (optical drive). Your content business is doing ok (yet Spiderman 4 looks like a no-go so?) but it has systematically sabotaged the consumer electronics business.
You have a couple upsides. The newish XMB interface works well for the PSP/PS3 and you're expanding it to the TV business which is also going well. Blu-ray won, and that will help down the road. The Sony Vaio line-up is doing ok, but you're stuck with Windows.
Your market cap is a third what it was in 2003. Your margins are below 1%, compared to nearly 3% in 2003 and against 18% against Apple Inc.
What do you do?
You forgot, the PSP is actually trailing the DS by alot and interest is slowing down. Your online iTunes copy store is a failure. You don't sell as many consumer electronics like TVs and DVD players anymore. You brand image has suffered severly. PS3 is bleeding you dry and has been conquered by the Wii. Your software for pros is not doing so great. Your not as big in the digiCam and Camcorder sector as you once were.
Hmm... doesn't look too good.
- They need to make their products look nicer. The PS3 isn't exactly pretty is it??
That is in the eye of the beholder - I think that the PS3 is a solid, dead quiet, and beautiful machine, it totally puts the Wii and especially the 360 to shame (I have all three). The hardware was well tested (they can run in a sauna for 3 days, the 360 evidently was never environmentally tested at all). Hardware and software run well together - there is nothing that I can think of that needs to be improved in the PS3.
PS3 is bleeding you dry and has been conquered by the Wii.
PS3 is profitable now:
http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/01/31/...y-makes-profit
And they have sold 31 million PSPs - that has to be good for something, it isn't even really competing with the gameboy since it can do so much more. It has outsold the iPod touch...
That is in the eye of the beholder - I think that the PS3 is a solid, dead quiet, and beautiful machine, it totally puts the Wii and especially the 360 to shame (I have all three). The hardware was well tested (they can run in a sauna for 3 days, the 360 evidently was never environmentally tested at all). Hardware and software run well together - there is nothing that I can think of that needs to be improved in the PS3.
PS3 is profitable now:
http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/01/31/...y-makes-profit
And they have sold 31 million PSPs - that has to be good for something, it isn't even really competing with the gameboy since it can do so much more. It has outsold the iPod touch...
Wow, a tiny profit in one quarter. Whip out the champagne boys!
Wow, a tiny profit in one quarter. Whip out the champagne boys!
PS3 was a success for the company even before it turned profitable. Without PS3 the HD war would have been very different, and it could have been Sony that was hemorrhaging money like Toshiba is right now. Sales of the PS3 are picking up more and more and manufacturing cost is going to keep going down (especially with the natural cost drops of progressive technology and the widespread implementation of Blu-ray). PS3 also now has some real heavy-hitters coming in the near future (e.g. MSG, FF XIII, GT) which are going to spark serious interest in the system.
And don't forget: all along the PS3 was just a tier of their gaming market products. It was meant to work hand-in-hand with PS2 sales, and the PS2 has been performing spectacularly. Now they are going into the upcoming year with a next-gen system which has built-in hard drive storage (developers can take advantage of this for caching and upgrading) and next-generation media (game developers can't develop on HD-DVD or Blu-ray for the XBox 360), something that will make PS3 games capable of things the 360 simply cannot touch, even with similar processing power (you can only store so much data on a DVD).
Your PS3's dark days are vanishing into the horizon.
A better question is: What will you do to make it even better?
It's 2008.
The iPod has utterly kicked your Walkman in the nuts, and the current model Walkmans are ugly and the syncing software is garbage (also, you're tied to Microsoft's DRM). The PS3 is second in Japan, perhaps Europe, and third in North America. The PSP is doing very well, but moves little software and is poorly designed (optical drive). Your content business is doing ok (yet Spiderman 4 looks like a no-go so…) but it has systematically sabotaged the consumer electronics business.
You have a couple upsides. The newish XMB interface works well for the PSP/PS3 and you're expanding it to the TV business which is also going well. Blu-ray won, and that will help down the road. The Sony Vaio line-up is doing ok, but you're stuck with Windows.
Your market cap is a third what it was in 2003. Your margins are below 1%, compared to nearly 3% in 2003 and against 18% against Apple Inc.
What do you do?
I make a Sky+-like [not just freeware] service for the PS3 which users can subscribe to. Make it cost competitive, and add downloadable content. I make that PS3 phone real, give it some good looking software and let it download games from the store via the new computer software, over Wifi directly to the device itself, and also to the PS3. Device can sync with both computer [Mac or PC] and the PS3. It backs up everything and keeps them all in sync. I'd also add this new Sony+ software to all new Sony TV's and the PS3, the hardware box is the PS3.
I think Apple could stand to expand its product lines a little in many cases.
They would still be many miles away from having a product line as messed-up, overlapping and confusing as Sony, or the pièce de résistance, Acer (seriously, how the hell do you choose which laptop of theirs to buy - check out their website, I dare you!).
Yikes. I particularly like the navigation (Dell does this too) that obliges you too blindly choose from a drop=down menu of dozens of opaquely named models, which takes you to a cluttered product page, but forces you to go back to that drop-down menu to take another blind stab at finding out about a different model.
Compare that to Apple's entire line-up for a given segment on a single page.
PS3 was a success for the company even before it turned profitable. Without PS3 the HD war would have been very different, and it could have been Sony that was hemorrhaging money like Toshiba is right now. Sales of the PS3 are picking up more and more and manufacturing cost is going to keep going down (especially with the natural cost drops of progressive technology and the widespread implementation of Blu-ray). PS3 also now has some real heavy-hitters coming in the near future (e.g. MSG, FF XIII, GT) which are going to spark serious interest in the system.
And don't forget: all along the PS3 was just a tier of their gaming market products. It was meant to work hand-in-hand with PS2 sales, and the PS2 has been performing spectacularly. Now they are going into the upcoming year with a next-gen system which has built-in hard drive storage (developers can take advantage of this for caching and upgrading) and next-generation media (game developers can't develop on HD-DVD or Blu-ray for the XBox 360), something that will make PS3 games capable of things the 360 simply cannot touch, even with similar processing power (you can only store so much data on a DVD).
Your PS3's dark days are vanishing into the horizon.
A better question is: What will you do to make it even better?
I'm sorry but i think the PS3 had a minimal effect at best of determining the winner in the HD format war. The outcome would have been the same whether PS3 was blu-ray or HD-DVD. The more popular and more abundant console offered HD-DVD and HD-DVD ultimately lost, go figure.
So once again, PS3 had zero effect on HD Format wars. Its sales were completely insignificant.
Yikes. I particularly like the navigation (Dell does this too) that obliges you too blindly choose from a drop=down menu of dozens of opaquely named models, which takes you to a cluttered product page, but forces you to go back to that drop-down menu to take another blind stab at finding out about a different model.
Compare that to Apple's entire line-up for a given segment on a single page.
If you think about Apple has seemed to copy the luxury automobile market in selling its products. Offer a few high end models in a few segments, make choosing the models and options as simple as possible so as not to confuse the consumer, let the customers feel like they are a part of something and treat them like the are of a special class for buying your product.
I see Lexus and Mercedes selling their cars the same way Apple sells its iPods and Macs!