I have always enjoyed Sony products and have
never had any problems with any of their
products. I own a PS3 and I consider one of my
best electronic purchases ever. I would have
thought Sony would have already been competing
in the smart phone market already but alas they
are not.
If they do come out with a smartphone it should
be able to link to the PS3 and able get those
older games downloaded onto the phone or at
least some of the new ones you can get from the
PSN.
Sony may make some fun commercials featuring Peyton Manning and Justin Timberlake. But when it comes to selling gadgets to today’s tech-savvy consumer, Sony has a long way to go before it can catch up to rivals such as Apple.
Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that Sony is working on a new lineup of handheld products, specifically a gaming smartphone and a portable device that brings together netbook, e-reader and PlayStation Portable functionality. Clearly, that’s an attempt to go after Apple, which has incorporated - and played-up - handheld gaming in the iPod Touch (and, indirectly, the iPhone, too), as well as the yet-to-be-released iPad tablet device.
To bring it all together, Sony is expected to tie these devices to its online media platform, which is expected to launch later this month. The WSJ report says that the new devices are slated for launch in 2010. But I’m not holding my breath in anticipation.
First, a Sony spokesperson declined comment to the Journal - no surprise there. Second, I would think that if a new product line is coming in 2010, then Sony would have been talking about it already. It’s March already. Even if it’s slated for release in time for the holiday season, Sony should be talking up its plans to generate some buzz around them. It’s not like the company has the cult-like blogosphere following that Apple has to generate buzz around forthcoming announcements. Sony needs to talk about them publicly to get the word out.
It’s sad to say but it’s almost as if Sony no longer “gets it.” Here’s an excerpt from the WSJ story that had me shaking my head:
Sony’s media platform, temporarily named Sony Online Service, will offer many of the same movies, television shows and music already available on iTunes. But the company aims to differentiate its service by allowing a wide range of devices to tap into its catalog of games, mainly older titles released for the original PlayStation console.
Yeah, because that’s what the gamers of today want: games from a three-generations-ago console device. Nothing like spinning things forward, huh?
The smartphone could prove interesting - but Sony would have to rise above the noise at a time when consumers have a growing number of options in smartphones and the competitive landscape is heating up.
There’s no question that Sony is capable of putting out quality products. In fact, I used to be a “Sony-only” consumer - but those days are gone. Sony lost me years ago and really didn’t do anything enticing enough to lure me back. Even my pre-teen son prefers to play handheld games on his iPod Touch instead of his old-school PlayStation Portable and chose an Xbox 360 over a PlayStation3.
The WSJ notes that PSP shipment targets for this year were slashed by one-third and that sales of the PSP Go - the latest version of the device - have been slow, largely because of its hefty $250 price tag.
Sony has enough brand name equity that it could make a comeback - but it will really have to make some bold moves to tie everything together within the online environment. Still, the clock is ticking - and unless Sony starts offering up some details on what it has in the works and starts building some excitement around it, Sony could end up looking like another “me-too” device maker.
That’s too bad, considering Sony was once at the top of the consumer electronics game.
