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October 24, 2006
What Sony must do to get back on track
Now, I'm not exactly an expert in this field, then again Sony doesn't appear to be either. Here's my take on the situation: Sony has grown too big for it's britches and it's come up against the consumer electronics manufacturing equivelant to writer's block.
Nevertheless, they aren't without hope. Here's what I feel Sony should be focussing on:
1. Let people watch/listen to their own damn content! It must be difficult for Sony's consumer electronics heads to agree with the movie studios and record labels they run in a way that can actually sell content. The unfortuante truth Sony faces; however, is despite Blu-Ray or HDDVD taking off, it's digital downloads that will leapfrog both of those formats for everything but storage. So, unless Sony wants to be stuck with a multi-million dollar investment into a floopy disk replacement, they should start working on integrating video downloads into Connect. Or, if they are tired of beating a dead horse with the connect music store, they should partner with a more successful download service and start promoting Quit focussing so much on DRM and DRM driven formats that you lose sight of the fact that people have a right to enjoy the media they purchase.
2. Make it all work together! Can somebody explain to me why Sony Ericsson Walkman phones are not being leveraged to advertise the Connect music store? Furthermore, why is Sony developing Location Free TV technology for Windows Mobile phones before it offers it on it's own Sony Ericsson smart phones? Then of course there is the mystery of why they are marketing a new device, the Mylo to do things that they could easily integrate into the PSP to drive it's sells. Oh yeah, then there is their Digital Living System which is a computer designed to take residence in your entertainment center instead of on your desk and does it get the Blu-Ray disc player? No, the awkward looking desktop does. It's like Sony is a huge family whose members aren't aware of what the others are doing. Here's an idea, when you come up with a new technology, make sure that you enable all your devices to utilize it then leverage the marketing synergy! Apple has a mastery of this. Every product they create in someway revolves around iLife, and iLife and .Mac interact with one another.
3. Get the creative juices flowing! Hey, those wizkids who design your PSP and your laptops... they should also design your Blu-Ray disc player! That thing looks like a cross between a brick and a VCR from the early 90's. Then there are the MP3 players which honestly would have been great designwise in 2002, but everybody expects a color screen these days, not a monochrome reflection screen.
4. Do something with Connect or ditch it! If you are going to integrate PSP functionality into it, then by all means do, but don't make a seperate Connect store front for it! You don't see Apple creating a separate iTunes interface for the iPod! Plus, the content you have available for download on the PSP Connect storefront... nobody wants it! At the very least, put a few more trailers up there.
5. Quit favoring Japan with the exclusive PS2 and PSP colors and marketing. You have a larger audience in the US. Play both fields.
6. Control your execs. Enough with the crazy statements.
7. If you are going to compete with Apple, don't just create a competitor, create the superior device, and give consumers a reason to choose it instead. My recommendations, take your PSP line, add a new model that can make and recieve calls on the Cingular network, plus a 2 mp camera and all the features it currently has. Give it a 10 gb harddrive, and Skye capability, offer WMA and WMV plays for sure compatability, and you are set. Give it the ability to view MS Office documents and sync with Outlook or Gmail and you have a device that will overthrow the iPod. Especially if you offer a port to hook up interchangable harddrives which you can manufacture as an accessory for extra profit. Oh yeah, and a touch of bluetooth 2.0 so you can listen to music/movies/games on your PSP without wires. Wires are uncool these days.
8. Networked stereos are an excellent concept, give them more compatibility, give them the ability to sync with the PSP through wi-Fi and bluetooth and you have yet another accessory leveraged with some clever marketing you could really start expanding on your core market.
9. Embrace homebrew on the PSP, just don't support it, just as apple allows you to Windows in a partition but doesn't support it.
10. Use your artists! You have a bevy of rock stars from Aerosmith to Tori Amos, you'd think you could use a few to advertise like you used to!
11. Adopt Windows Mobile for your cell phone platform. Face it, Symbian is not competing, opt for the prominent technology and adapt it, like palm. Sony's strength is in engineering devices, People would flip over the w600i and the 950i if they ran Win Mobile.
Those are just a few suggestions. Not that Sony will listen, but hey!
Posted by Decemberice at October 24, 2006 07:39 PM