Sony's quarterly profits have tumbled by 94% after the firm recalled millions of laptop computer batteries because of a potential fire risk.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6086598.stm
WOW, the number is up to 94%, you suppose they will post a loss when they start shipping those PS3's below cost?
The Japanese board of trade has expressed public concern that Sony is damaging Japan's reputation as a leader in consumer goods. That is a big time slap in the face of Sony (rightly deserved mind) and hopefully it will shake up the organization further.
Has Sony really been much of a power player in the last like 10 years?
Well, in the last ten years or so Sony helped develop DVD, launched a console as a newcomer (effectively destroying Sega, Atari and NEO-GEO) and successfully relaunched it's atrophied computer division with VAIO. Sony also managed to pretty much kill VHS video cameras with the DV & MiniDV formats.
Quote from: Mr. Analog on October 26, 2006, 05:45:20 PM
The Japanese board of trade has expressed public concern that Sony is damaging Japan's reputation as a leader in consumer goods. That is a big time slap in the face of Sony (rightly deserved mind) and hopefully it will shake up the organization further.
I was trying to find an article on the web that supported this statement, but couldn't. Could you provide a link?
I agree that having the much-touted Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry say something bad publicly about Sony is a huge black mark against Sony.
Quote from: Thorin on October 26, 2006, 07:42:36 PM
Quote from: Mr. Analog on October 26, 2006, 05:45:20 PM
The Japanese board of trade has expressed public concern that Sony is damaging Japan's reputation as a leader in consumer goods. That is a big time slap in the face of Sony (rightly deserved mind) and hopefully it will shake up the organization further.
I was trying to find an article on the web that supported this statement, but couldn't. Could you provide a link?
I agree that having the much-touted Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry say something bad publicly about Sony is a huge black mark against Sony.
Quote from: The Globe and Mail...Japan's top government ministers are getting worried about Sony. Akira Amari, minister of economy, trade and industry, told reporters he hoped the company would recover its brand image soon.
Article on The Globe and Mail.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061021.RSONY21/TPStory/Business
Hate to point out a few mistakes MrA, but...
Sony was developing a DVD competitor that they abandoned to go with the version JVC developed.
Also the original Playstation was basically developed by a joint venture between Sony and Nintendo. When Nintendo bailed on the agreement Sony went it alone, and for sure they dominated, but in no way is it special as Microsoft did it the following generation.
I have always found that Sony hardware is normally overpriced and feature lite in comparison to other products in its class.
Quote from: Shayne on October 26, 2006, 09:09:04 PM
Hate to point out a few mistakes MrA, but...
Sony was developing a DVD competitor that they abandoned to go with the version JVC developed.
Also the original Playstation was basically developed by a joint venture between Sony and Nintendo. When Nintendo bailed on the agreement Sony went it alone, and for sure they dominated, but in no way is it special as Microsoft did it the following generation.
I have always found that Sony hardware is normally overpriced and feature lite in comparison to other products in its class.
Sony was indeed involved developing a rival format with Philips and they decided to turf it for Toshiba's SD format but it was still a collaborative venture between Sony, Philips, Toshiba, Matsu@%&#a, Hitachi, Thomson, JVC and a few others I think. I can't remember exactly what Sony contributed but it was something proprietary that became part of the DVD spec.
The Nintendo "Super CD" was in the works in 1990, at which point Sony realized the potential of driving their own video game machine and pulled out sometime in the early 90s. Virtually nothing beyond a few vapor ware specs and conceptual material was developed during the Sony / Nintendo partnership. Just a few years later Sony came out with an aggressive marketing campaign and a quality piece of hardware with some good launch titles. Sony's PSX "killer app" was undoubtedly FFVII that was released a year later, the massive success of the PSX blew away all of it's competition at the time, some of which was ending a lifecycle (N64) while others were flagship products (Dreamcast). The successful pattern of how Sony handled the PSX did not go unnoticed and was emulated by Microsoft when they released the X-Box (aggressive marketing campaign, quality hardware, decent list of launch titles and a killer app in the form of Halo).
I have a great book about the history of video games (up to ~2005), it covers all this stuff, though I'm sure I could find it online if I wanted to.
And yes, I agree, Sony hardware is a complete and utter joke and I wouldn't buy ANYTHING in their home theatre lines. It's a company that has had it's head up it's butt for 20 years, and really beyond the walkman, the CD and the PSX they've pretty much failed to deliver or just have been plain 'tarded in general when it comes to large scale decision making.